Stranded
by GoGreen43
Summary: Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, Nico, and Juniper are all Stranded on a island after being the only survivors on a plane crash. They have to put aside differences. Figure out how to stop a scary looking creature. And most of all: Survive. All Human
1. My Life

**Hello! Hello! Okay… I have to admit that every story I write is originally based on a song… well, the stories that aren't a One Shot.**

_**Witness Protection/ The Cost**__**- Show me what I'm Looking For By: Carolina Liar**_

_**Homecoming**__**: Homecoming By: Kanye West**_

_**Secrets**__**: Bring Me to Life by: Evanescence ft.- Linkin Park**_

**So… now you know that, I have to tell you this song-**

_**How Far We've Come by: Matchbox Twenty **_

**Now… if you're wondering why, just wait to see within the story… so… yeah.**

**HERE IS STRANDED! R&R!  
>~GoGreen52<strong>

**Stranded**

**Chapter 1- My Life**

**-Percy Jackson POV-**

I walked out of the Lab, all excited. Why was I excited? Well, my partner Beckendorf and I just got back a message saying that our grant for getting a submarine was just accepted and the company is sending one over… but since it'll be coming next week, I won't be able to be here.

Why won't I be here? The reason is that my old mentor, Chiron Brunner, is having all of his students (that are all famous by the way) fly out and meet him at his old Irish castle for a reunion. The thing is we've never really met each other before, so I have a feeling it'll defiantly be an awkward trip.

"Percy get over here!" my partner in crime, Beckendorf, or… Dr. Charles Beckendorf yelled. Let's just say when he asks you to do something, you'd do it. Even if I am the one in higher rank here.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, but even so walked over to him. Beckendorf was looking into a microscope, and I could tell he was checking out the plankton level.

"Shut up and take a look." I rose my eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. "It's important."

I sighed, taking a look. There was a _very _large amount of plankton in the vile. I knew that this was taken from the Scottish Highlands… more importantly, it was taken from the Loch Ness. That means that there could very well be a large species under the water.

If you're wondering why the heck I'm looking at something like that, the answer is simple. Discovery Magazine wants us to do a little discovering on the Loch Ness Monster. We're getting payed 500,000 grand, each, to do this… simple project.

"That is a lot of plankton…" I said, in shock from what I've just seen. Usually you'd _never _see plankton like this. That shows that life forms, as big as Nessie, _could _in fact be living down there.

But… I'm a non-believer myself. I've never really seen her, so I don't believe. I have no proof but pictures. It's easier to believe in God than this.

"I know that captain obvious. But seriously, this is huge… we now know that something as big as witnesses say it to be could be out there."

"Beckendorf… who knows, I mean, we need that submarine to go ahead and take a look for ourselves."

"Agreed. I think you should go get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow."

"Yeah… don't remind me," I joked, and patted him on the back. "See ya when I get back."

I took off my lab coat, hung it up in my office, grabbed my wallet and keys then bounded out of the place. I really just want to get some sleep.

**-Annabeth Chase POV-**

I was stressed out. My blueprints for the newest bridge in New York was slacking. I was seriously taking too long doing this. I had a good friend in the business with me, Malcolm, and he was keeping me going. But usually it doesn't take me anything at all.

"Annabeth! Are you finished yet?" My other good friend, Piper, walked in. She was holding a file folder. Oh great. she decided to come up with something smart.

"No I am not Piper," I sighed, looking at her with dead eyes, "And I have to leave tomorrow." Piper came behind me and peered over my shoulder.

"Well, I might just be the answer to all your problems." Piper's eyes were like a child's on Christmas morning. "All you really have to do is throw in a support there. Sure, it looks uneven, but I'm as sure as me being a woman that it'll work."

I logged on to my computer, and checked out what _would _happen if we put that support there. I had to calculate the dimensions for the support.

Once I figured out the length, width and depth of the beam we would have to use, I put it on my saved design. It turns out that the plan would work… who would have thought that Piper, my Piper would have thought something this big! Gosh… I really need to pay her more.

"You're awesome Piper," I admitted giving her a fist pump. She smiled and backed up a step. I wasn't that surprised when she took a bow, beaming at me.

"Yes I am, and don't wear that out."

"Don't push it."

"Fine. That's all Athena really needed from you today. So I think you should go home and get some rest before tomorrow." Piper told me, looking at me like she was my mother.

"Look, just let me make a few changes to my new house design, okay?" I asked, accidentally letting a yawn escape my lips. Crap.

"Ever since Luke died… you've been overworking yourself. Give yourself some rest. Some time to just… cool off and relax. You need it."

I smiled at her and thanked her. "Oh, and before I forget, I'll call you when I reach Ireland, okay? Keep tabs on the new design with me. And if you need any help-"

"I won't hesitate to call you. Got it."

I smirked at her, then she closed my office door, leaving me alone… to decided _when _I would actually get some sleep tonight… ugh, and I need it too.

I stood up, took my portfolio of all my blueprints and locked it in my safe. _Don't need anyone taking these while I'm gone._

I walked out of my office, purse and car keys in hand. I was in store for one heck of a get-away.

**-Nico Di'Angelo POV-**

I looked at the camera one more time, trying to find any trace of a ghost here. There wasn't. one of the very few places I've visited with no real ghosts. Ha. Figures. Even on the thermal- we spotted no irregular signs of someone, or something from a different world being in there.

"You got nothing?" My sister asked, and I nodded. "I don't have anything either. This is a bust."

"No kidding. I could have thought of a thousand different things to do with my time than go ahead and do a bum case like this one. Let's clear out."

She agreed, and we started to pack up our equipment along with all of our other investagators who tag along for the ride. "This was such a dumb case," Connor Stoll announced, and everyone mumbled in agreement.

His brother and sister in law were picking up at their station, and I could see how they were always with each other. Bianca thought it was cute, I thought it was weird. I mean, Travis Stoll and Katie Gardner were always two different people, with two different outtakes on life. Now… they're married. It's just weird.

I sighed, packing up my camera. It had a skull and crossbones sticker on it from my nefew… yeah, Bianca is married with one kid. I mean, hello, I _am _26 after all. She was married to a guy named Weston Garcia… he didn't have some freaky thing going on in his life, so I guess you could call him a normal guy. They have a kid named Alexander, or Alex/Ali, depending on who you are.

I on one hand call him Alex. I really don't want to curse him with a girl's name.

But right now… that didn't even matter to me. We usually air our investigations on the Science Fiction channel, well known to be the Sci Fi channel. I hate how these people wanted publicity and decided to have us over, wasting our time. I could see the anger in not only my eyes, but in the Stoll's eyes and Bianca's eyes. We all hated it when one of our customers lied to us.

"Let's hit the road to get home. I have to leave on some trip tomorrow for this old mentor I once had, but anyways, I have to go somewhere and I need sleep," I told them, and I saw them stop.

"So… when would our next case be?" Travis asked, one of his eyebrows raised.

"Depends on when Bianca leads you guys to the next place. I'm thinking on giving you a break week… you know, go see your families… girlfriends… I don't really care as long as you're ready and focused when I come back."

Everyone nodded, smiling at no one in particular. This was going to be an easy trip.

**-Thalia Grace POV-**

I looked at my face in the mirror. Not really bad, but not exactly model material either. Good. Just how I like to look. Walking out of the bathroom, I sighed. _I really have got to stop spending the night at work. It just drains me too much._

I ended up going to my office, and grabbing a coffee at the break room on the way. I want to get clocked in earlier today, so I can go home earlier too. That's how the night-spender-over routine works, anyways. Sleep over here, clock in early, do the easy shift, go home early, sleep in, come in here for second shift, then sleep over again.

Yeah… you could say that I spend the night over here practically every day, so my office usually works as my home. I spend more time here than I spend at home… well, not counting the weekends. I own a nice penthouse, so I guess you could say that I have money.

Or- I just don't use too much money. Here, they provide lunch for you. Then, I usually get lucky and have someone else buy dinner and breakfast for me, or I'll just go to a local café to get a sandwich or something like that.

I sat in my chair, a comfy little spinning chair that I love to use while I'm bored. And I get bored _a lot. _I heard my cell start to ring, so I looked at the ID to see if I really wanted to answer it or not.

_Jason Grace_

Little brother… I should answer it. He'll probably come and find me here, looking like a mess if I don't. I still have to change into the new clothes I brought with me. So I wouldn't really have to take a fake walk of shame… yeah.

"Wassup little bro?" I asked into the phone, while a shut all of the blinds in my room, since two of the four walls were indeed glass. Some heftier than other glass things I could tell you… I threw a chair at the window a while back, since I was extremely angry about this one speech.

Yeah, I'd rather not get into it.

"Thalia… where the heck are you? I stopped by your place to get some sugar, since you always have some," Jason told me. I always have to give him my cooking food that you can't eat plain, because then… I never really use it.

"First of all, why do you need sugar?"

"You forgot! Ha! I'm telling mom! She's coming out here for a few days," he explained, and I gasped. I was actually in the process of putting my clean jeans on, and I don't think Jace has to know that.

"I'm leaving for Ireland tomorrow… big deal with an old mentor of mine… sorry Jace, but you're on your own this time."

"So you're just going to leave me here with mom?" he asked, sounding astonished. My mom… can be a handful sometimes. Scratch that- all the time.

"Yup. Now. I have to go. See ya in a week." I said, and I heard him growl into the phone before I decided to hang up. Well… I can't say that I'm not happy that I'm going to Ireland tomorrow. It saves me so many times and troubles with my ma.

**-Grover Underwood POV-**

I was taking tests from all the botanists around here, and seeing how plants, some kinds of plants in particular such as exotic plants, are changing the world New Yorkers live in.

Apparently Exotic plants are coming from a different wildlife, hence forth they are changing the eco system here so they could be able to adapt here. It's so many new kinds of plants, that instead of changing themselves, it's almost like they're changing New York.

Studies show, that our fertilizer price has gone up, and that the need for it has gone up also. This is a cost for Manhattan that we really don't need. Central park needs so much fertilizer… why don't the people just let it be?

Oh yeah- people like to hang out there, and mess around with everything out there.

I honestly can't be shocked about how crazy this life is. I mean I'm trying to changed the world, and all I get is angry people who hate change. But by littering, they're destroying the environment one piece of paper at a time. They could be recycling that paper, so it could turn into something else.

The average person owns at least ten non-known recycled products. People have gotten better at changing the world like I have gotten used to, but now… people are just plain annoying. They complain all the time, don't give a crap about the environment… it bugs me.

I watched as the pants in the greenhouse were fertilized, and took notes as to how each kind of plant reacted to it. Some got more brighter and beautiful, while others… shriveled up even more.

I made a note to tell someone who would actually care about this fertilizer as soon as I get back from my trip I'm going on.

I sighed, and walked back to the lab, disposing the greenhouse coat for a lab coat. I took the greenhouse soil and put it under Edna. She would tell me what was going on in the soil, and what was in there exactly, so if I had to change it for the better of the plants, I could.

It had high concentrates of H2o, which was good. I smiled, and put the dirt into a container, than put that in the freezer, so nothing would become unstable like it would under room temperature.

I took off my lab coat, and grabbed my wallet_. I still need to pack for the trip tomorrow!_ I ran out the door, but came back to grab my keys… oops…

**-Juniper Busche POV-**

I sighed, taking some more notes on that birch tree that was driving me insane. It was not responding to the fertilizer formula I created, while every other tree, including some other birch trees were. I think this one was as stubborn as me.

I glared at it, but then stopped realizing I was glaring at a _tree. _God, I'm, going insane. My good friend, Rachel, was making sure I went home every night… I probably would stay at the lab processing the fertilizer formula if it wasn't for her.

"Hey Rachel!" I called, and I heard her walk up to me from her station.

"What is it?"

"This tree is being mean to me," I said, pointing and glaring at the tree. Again, it is just a freaking _tree _Juniper!

"One thing I noticed since I started to work here is that a lot of trees are mean to you Juniper. Whether you like it or not, you may always have problems."

"Yeah, I know that, but why don't you have problems like I do?"

Rachel walked up to me and whispered in my ear, "That's because I'm a tree whisperer."

I wacked her on the side of her head causing her to yell, "OWE!" and rub the back of her head. "What was that for?" 

"Well, don't tell me you're now a tree whisperer. Two days ago you said you were a fertilizer whisperer too."

"Well, what can I say? I'm gifted," Rachel said, shrugging. I could just tell she wanted to laugh, but in the end she was able to keep the straight face. Gosh, the woman is gifted.

"Shut up." I mumbled, getting back to my microscope and looking at a shard of the dirt I've used for the birch tree. Oh… that's why. Somehow someone decided to spill salt around the tree, causing a reaction with the Fertilizer, causing it not to blossom on time… oh well, I'll leave that whole problem to Rachel. It's not my problem anymore, since my shift ended and I need to get home to pack.

"Well… I guess I have to go home now and go pack," I said casually, and Rachel rasied her eyebrows.

"Really? Already?" 

"Oh yeah, there was someone who tampered with the birch tree, leaving salt around it. So… that's your job now. I want to have the culprit here when I get back so I can either fire them or rat them out."

Rachel nodded, and I threw my lab coat on the hook, grabbed my purse and car keys, and got out of there as soon as I could.

I really would rather be doing something that doesn't involve fertilizer. The stuff is so annoying.

**Well… that's the first chapter. It was more of a filler, and the next one will be better, CAUSE THAT'S THE CRASH! BOOOOMMM!**

**Haha… but seriously, the crash will be in the next chapter. So stay put!**

**~GoGreen52**


	2. Mayday!

**Thanks for all of those amazing reviews! I need 15 more for me to upload the next chapter… (even if you don't have an account, you can still review) if you enjoy this story so far, and aren't familiar with my others- go ahead and try them out… the long ones are mostly all human, since I find it more easier to write that way…**

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 2- Mayday!**

**-Annabeth POV-**

I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I checked the clock- four in the morning. Great. I slowly sat up in my bed, kicking the heavy sheets up and throwing my feet over the side.

My curls were all in my face, but to be honest, I really wasn't in the mood to brush them aside, so I just let them hang… right in front of my face… whatever. I turned the blaring alarm clock off, and sighed. I had to go to Chiron's castle today with a bunch of famous people I don't know. Fun.

I decided that it was time to go ahead and stand up, but I felt a little light headed when I did. _I shouldn't have stayed up that late last night._ I was too tired to really care. Walking to the bathroom, I looked in the mirror. But first, I had to turn the light on since it was still freaking dark out!

I saw that my hair was even worse than I thought it would be. But it wasn't anything a shower could fix. I started the shower, and watched as the steam fogged the mirror. I drew a smiley face in the mirror, and smiled. I _was _going. There was nothing that was going to stop me, so I might as well suck it up, and enjoy it.

I brushed my teeth, and washed my face before I went in the shower, so I really wouldn't have to do it while I was taking the shower… yeah- personal reasons.

I washed my hair really good, making sure the shampoo and conditioner got to my roots. It was relaxing, but at the same time it woke me up, making my eyes open wider, and my mind more alert. I was ready for the day.

I stepped out of the shower, and threw on the clothes I had picked out for today: a purple tee shirt with a tank to go under, along with some jeans. I decided to put on some track shoes, having the most comfortable fit on my feet. All I was really going for was comfortable.

I threw my hair up in a pony tail, and looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. I didn't look half that bad. I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste, putting them in a baggie, along with a bunch of my binders. I grabbed the rest of my toiletries and threw them in a bag, so they wouldn't mix with my clothes. I threw the bag in my suitcase, and shut it.

Everything packed.

I grabbed my bags, two of them total, and walked out of my apartment, shutting and locking the door behind me.

I hope I really get along with these people… who knows- maybe they're some psycho creeps.

I took a taxi to the airport, and dropped my suitcase off at the baggage claim, but kept my waterproof backpack with my laptop, charger, phone, book, etc.

I made my way to Gate 23, where I would have to board the plane. When I got there, I saw a few people were there, but not exactly 300… more like half of that. I smiled, thinking of how I probably wasn't the only one who had to do this.

**-Percy POV-**

Waking up to a chicken alarm clock didn't settle real well with me. I think Beckendorf's kid, Max, did that. I babysit him for Beckendorf and Silena, two friends who I've known since high school.

Max… he's about 3 years old, and loves to get into my stuff. This alarm clock was put here by Max, while I have no idea where my other one is. Now, for the past few days, I had to wake up to a chicken noise… or is it a rooster? Well, the fact is- it's _annoying._

Turning the thing off, I smiled, happy that I wouldn't have to wake up to _that _for a week. Suddenly, I was excited for the trip… well, for the peaceful sleep part of it.

I stood up, and winced at the cold floor touching my skin. _I really need a shower. _Stepping in the bathroom, I smiled as I saw everything in place, no real bad problems yet. Usually before I go to sleep, I get stupid and throw my tooth brush somewhere, and I have no idea where I put it. That wastes a good 30 minutes there.

I turned on the shower, and stepped in, waking myself off with the cold water. It takes about 30 seconds to heat up to a decent heat, but I use those seconds to wake me up. The warm water just makes me more… warm. I don't want to step out then, with only warm water.

Once it heated up, I shampooed and conditioned. Usually, I don't really condition, maybe every once a week, but I shampoo twice, making sure the hair doesn't end up falling out. That would be a nightmare.

I stepped out, drying myself off with the towel. Then, I got into my clothes; a blue v-neck tee, and board shorts. I was going to wear some track shoes with it, and bring my leather sandals in the suitcase. A long time ago, I decided to bring one big suitcase, along with a carry on that I could put all my stuff like, phones, books, a laptop, etc.

I put them in a simple backpack, and ate a little breakfast bar while I was at it. When I finished, I finished the granola bar. I threw the wrapper in the garbage, and grabbed my suitcase and backpack, and walked out of my penthouse.

The person at the baggage claim directed me to Gate 23, and I walked there, and saw few people sitting down. Hey- it was 5 in the morning, and the flight was leaving in an hour… but better early than late, right?

I took a seat next to a woman with blonde, curly hair, and she just had this California Girl thing to her. But her eyes… they were amazing- a grey that you'd see with storm clouds… and nothing else. That's what knocked the California girl thing from my mind right away- she didn't have the stereotypical eye color.

I stopped thinking about her, even though it was pretty hard, and I pulled out my book. It was a non-fiction book, based on the Loch Ness Monster. I decided to do some research on it for just … you know, my own personal pleasure. And of course- for the facts.

I saw the woman sitting beside me look at what I was reading with interest. I saw what she was reading too… a book about architecture. She had the calculating look, and I have a feeling she was an architect.

"Excuse me sir… but why are you reading that? Just curious is all…" the woman asked, looking at me now.

"I'm working on a project that relates to the Loch Ness Monster," I explained, and she nodded.

"Sorry about that… sometimes I can get so curious, I don't know what really to think, but now- I guess I do," she mumbled, not looking at me, instead looking at her palms.

"It's fine, I'm a Marine Biologist that solves myths, and I do things like read about the ruins of Atlantis, or travel to the Bremuda Triangle looking for answers… I get that a lot," I admitted, and laughed a bit. "And I must admit that I'm wondering why you're reading a book about Architecture."

"I'm an Architect. Just reading about other people's works," she explained, "Are you by any chance, Percy Jackson?"

My eyes widened. I knew a_ lot_ of people read and watch the shows and articles I'm in, but I never thought I'd meet someone who did. Well- I already meet quite a few at book stores, but usually I don't count them. But at the airport- that's a first.

"Yes I am… who are you?" I asked, giving her my signature smile. Most ladies melt when I do that, but the woman didn't. She tensed a bit, then prepared to give her answer.

"Annabeth Chase, I'm an Architect for AthenaDesignCO."

"I've seen your work before! Those statues and docking ramps are awesome," I told her, and she smiled.

"It's a pleasure in itself meeting someone who recognizes me anyways."

"Yeah well, if you ever come to my lab- you'll see a lot of people that know who you are. We use those boat ramps all the time- and they have _got _to be the best ones around. And trust me- I know what I'm talking about. Marine Biologist, remember?"

Annabeth laughed, and we got into a whole different conversation about what we do, the timing of our jobs, everything that we got off on, we talked about. I hope she's one of the people Chiron invited. Apparently, we had a private section in the plane secluded off just for us.

"FLIGHT 198 NOW BOARDING."

I grabbed my bag, getting everything in there, while I saw Annabeth stand up. "Have a good trip," Annabeth said, and I nodded.

"You too."

She walked to the line to board the plane, and I saw there was a first class section, and coach section. She went in first class. Well, hey, she is an architect. There is obviously a good reason for that.

I finally packed all my stuff up and got up, walking to the first class line.

The lady at the entrance was a little too perky for my type. She smiled at me, her eyes nice and bright. I got the immediate vibe that she was going to try to hit on me. Trust me, this wouldn't be the first time.

"How are you doing sir?" she asked, sounding a little too rough on the edges for me. She looked a little too revealing to be doing this job.

"Just fine, thank you." I said, taking my ticket from my bag and handing it to her. She took it, ripped the end off, and handed it back to me.

"Have a good flight," she smiled seductively at me, and I just turned, shaking my head in amusement on the way to the entrance of the plane.

I boarded the plane, entering the 1st class place. I handed my ticket to a lady who stood by the door, and she leaded me to where I was going to be seated. "You in the Chiron Brunner party?" she asked, and I nodded. She smiled at me, and lead me behind a curtain. I noticed there was five other people there, one of them Annabeth. Ha! I knew it.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, looking at me surprised. I just smiled at her, and took my seat, # 32, and put my stuff down next to a familiar water-proof bag.

"Hey Annabeth," I smirked, and walked to where everyone was standing. I saw some familiar faces like Thalia Grace and Nico Di'Angelo. The other two people I didn't know radiated this eco-glow to them, and I had a feeling they were nature freaks.

"Percy, this is Thalia Grace- woman rights speaker, Nico Di'Angelo -paranormal hunter, Grover Underwood- professional ecologist, Juniper Busche- a professional botanist."

Everyone smiled and waved when they heard they're name. I smiled at every one of them, "Nice to meet you all- I'm Percy Jackson, a myth solving Marine Biologist."

"I've heard of you," Thalia said, patting me on the back, "You're field of work sounds really cool."

"Oh- it is. So… how is going out in front of all those people and speaking for rights?" I asked, joking around with her a bit.

"Really nerve wrecking, but extremely insane at the same time." I laughed at her response, and she smiled at me and said, "if you need any help with something that involves woman revolution, call me."

I smiled at her and nodded. I have a feeling we'll be good friends. I think I saw Annabeth huff in the background, but I decided not to get my hopes up. Really, I don't need to do that.

"Hey Percy… I've really liked your work. I'm an expert in the all-around ecosystem, and I tend to reference to your work when I speak to minors," Grover Underwood said, and I could tell by his fidgeting that he was nervous.

"Hey dude, that's what I'm going for. Everyone can learn at all ages, and I have a feeling that the magazines and TV shows reach out to the kids who are actually interested, but have no idea what to do about it."

"Awesome man… but I think we should get seated, seeing I just heard a ringing sound." I nodded at him, and took my seat next to Annabeth. Her smile increased when she saw me sit by her.

"How ya doing, seaweed brain?" She asked, and I looked at her with a clueless expression.

"What do you mean, 'seaweed brain'? Being a wise girl here, eh?" I asked, and Annabeth blushed.

"Well, you have a tendency to be clueless, and since you're a marine biologist, your head must be full of seaweed. Hence the name, Seaweed Brian," Annabeth explained. I looked at her with a shocked expression. Her eyes were full of humor, making me want to start to laugh.

"Well, I'm calling you Wise Girl, since you just had to go and be so wise, giving me my new nickname," I said, joking around even more.

"Okay, but that's not as good as the name seaweed brain," Annabeth told me.

"On who's part?"

She was about to answer, when a woman's voice went on the intercom and said, "We are now taking off, please put your seatbelts on." As soon as she ended, the seatbelt sign flashed in yellow. I put my seatbelt on, and watched Annabeth put her seatbelt on, too.

The plane took off, and the others were talking amongst themselves, and I noticed that Thalia and Nico sat by each other, and Grover sat by Juniper… a boy/girl seating arrangements?

Annabeth and I sat next to each other in silence, reading our books that started the conversation about an hour ago.

Hours passed, and countless flight attendants tried to flirt with all six of us. I have to admit- I was a little jealous when Annabeth took a number from the man flight attendant, who apparently was named Ethan, but who cares… she's not my girlfriend anyways… more like a friend.

I looked over to see Annabeth sleeping, leaning over the book. She looked cute when she slept.

All of the sudden, I saw a flash of light, and heard a thunderous boom, then the plane dropped. That caused some people to scream, along with Annabeth wake up. "What happened?"

"The plane just dropped a couple dozen feet. Don't worry though- the pilot didn't say anything," I said, and she nodded, though I could tell she was going to sleep. I saw Nico and Thalia, who were across from us, look over to us.

"Do you know what happened? We were asleep," Thalia asked, her voice sounding calm and collected. I could tell how she could be a professional speaker for woman's rights. It showed in how she asked that one simple question.

"The plane dropped… the pilot didn't say anything, so I suppose it isn't that bad," I explained, and Annabeth nodded in agreement. Thalia looked from the two of us, and seemed to decide something. She leaned her head back on the seat, and closed her eyes. I guess I know what she decided.

All of the sudden, the plane dropped again, and I heard Juniper scream in the front of us, and I could just see Grover's eyes widen. Thalia's eyes snapped open, and she exclaimed, "I'm awake!"

I heard Annabeth let out a nervous laugh from beside me, and I looked over to her to see her face a nervous mask of mine.

"THE PLANE IS GOING DOWN!" I heard someone from the room in front of us yell, which was the attendant's quarters… great.

"SHUT UP!" that one came from the same place, the attendants quarters.

"Please put on your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, we are seeing some problems with an engine." The intercom said, and I felt Annabeth stiffen next to me. I swear the whole place was silent for a second, before people started screaming, and crying. Great.

And one of them was Nico. He was screaming about how he was too young to die, and all of that crap.

Thalia wouldn't have it, though, and she did something that to be honest, really didn't shock me much. A very Thalia-like thing to do.

She slapped him. "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF MAN!"

I would laugh if it was a different situation. All of the sudden, the intercom clicked on. "_Brace yourself for impact! Second engine is now down, and we are going to crash_!" the pilot yelled, and I went back in my seat. It felt as if we were doing a nose-dive to the water. (We were over the pacific)

"PERCY!" Annabeth yelled, and I looked over and saw her sad face. I took her hand, and squeezed it, before I clenched them down on my own seat.

It felt like hours, but it was only mere minutes that passed by.

The screams were the only sound that I heard. I remembered Annabeth sitting next to me. She wasn't screaming, her face was just full of tears, shock, anger, and most of all, fear.

Her hands were unconsciously gripping the seat as if it was her lifeline… And in some sick, sad world… it was.

"Annabeth! Just close your eyes!" I yelled, and she closed them, not daring to let them take a peak as we crashed.

People flew, the top of the plane. I knew they were dead, seeing how uselessly they flopped in the air. And their screams were gone. That is what scared me the most.

I grabbed Annabeth and held her against me, bracing us for the impact.

When the impact came, I felt pressure on my whole body, and I let everything take me to darkness. Oh dear lord…

**How did you like? You see, I told you it would be the crash!  
>~GoGreen52 …Review <strong>


	3. Island

**What's up? I just got back from watching transformers 3… I will say in my opinion that it was the best one yet.**

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 3 – Island**

**-Annabeth Chase POV-**

The darkness faded into red. There was a strong scent of gasoline, along with scorching heat. I opened my eyes, and saw a nightmare.

People… actually they were dead bodies, lay in the water, burned and battered. There was blood in the water, and I knew that the only thing keeping the bloodthirsty sharks away was the fire. Yes, there was fire on top of the water.

I noticed that I was slowly being carried away on a piece of the plane. Next to me was Percy… he was laying there… motionless… I started to cry, being in a situation that most people would drown themselves from, and prayed to God that he was still alive.

I saw the other four of my friends, the one from first class with me, and they were on the same plane part. I looked at Percy's chest, seeing if there was a sign of life here with me. I saw it rise and fall… thank God it did, too.

I looked at the other's and cried out in happiness when I saw that they're chests were also rising and falling. I looked all over, not seeing anyone… anything moving. "HEY! ANYONE ALIVE?" I yelled, turning my hands into a mini-megaphone.

I waited a little bit, but no one answered. "ANYONE OUT THERE?" I waited, and found no one answer. I was glad I was alive… but no one was awake, nor here with me. When Piper hears about this… gosh, she'll freak. The woman's like a little sister to me, and I'm sure she'll think the worst when she finds out the plane crashed.

But wait… since it crashed, where do I go? what do I do? I'm still stuck here, out in the middle of the ocean. No food, no drink-able water…

I'm done for.

Not to mention, I have to help the others, so they'll actually live to see the light of day again… _but I can't let that happen, can I? _I cried. I had no idea what to do. The last time I cried was when I heard my mother died in a car accident, and I wouldn't get her back. Never see her again.

I looked around once more, trying to find some way that I could move this thing… I mean, at least it was staying afloat. I saw that there was some strips of steel… I could use those. They were shaped with a nice curve… I think that could work also.

Before I went to get them, I looked around in the water. Yep. Just as I thought. Shark infested. I really need that marine biologist now…

I sighed, looking at my friends. They needed to get somewhere, anywhere. I didn't want them to see this plane wreck… and all these bodies. On pure instinct I looked over to see the bodies being torn apart by the sharks, viciously fighting over the other. I knew from just watching the discovery channel that it wouldn't be exactly safe to go out there… but it was for my friends.

I also noticed that they were dry… lucky people. I guess we've been out here for awhile, my thoughts and slumber taking me somewhere else for all this time. But I guess I had to get myself wet for them… risking hypothermia… my God.

Before I could talk myself into not doing it any more, I went ahead and slid slowly and carefully in. I swam slowly, careful not to move too much and make myself an obvious target. I had to pass countless bodies to get to the steel strips, but I knew it was for the sake of my friends… so why would I let that get in the way?

All of the sudden, I felt something nudge my foot. I froze, still treading water of course, but my mind immediately paused. I looked down, and saw a shark, swimming around my feet. I took a deep breath. _I can do this. But man, where is the marine biologist when you need him?_

"ANNABETH!"

_And there he is._

I looked over to see Percy, staring at me wide eyes with Grover and Thalia. Nico and Juniper were still out cold. "Don't move a muscle."

"How can I swim then!" I snapped, then felt it nudge my feet again, so I shut up and listened to the expert.

"SHUT UP! I need you two to make a distraction… than Annabeth, swim to the plane part there," Percy said, taking total control. We all nodded, and I watched as my friends splashed the water, creating a distraction for me to get to the floating plane part.

_Nice idea Percy._

I felt as the shark darted to the 'oh so mysterious' vibrations, and I swam the opposite direction to the steel strips. I climbed up onto the plane part, and grabbed onto the strips. They must've weighed about 10 pounds, because they weren't as heavy as I thought they would be. Yet, they seemed to be durable. The more weightless and durable they are, the better we are off.

The others stopped splashing when they saw I was safe, and I gave them a thumbs up to prove it. They all smiled, though Percy's was the biggest of them all. _I guess it was just because it was his idea after all._

"Wait until the shark gets bored and leaves," Percy instructed, and I nodded. I waited, watching as the shark lost interest in the non-existing vibrations. It swam away, and I carefully slipped into the water, now having the steel strips. As soon as I got to the others, I handed them the strips first before getting on. I didn't want all that work to be for nothing, now did I?

I climbed up onto the platform type thing… and sighed. "Now what?" Thalia asked, looking at all of us individually. "We really need to get somewhere… safer than this."

"That's why I went to go get these things," I announced, gesturing to the steel strips, "So we could paddle ourselves somewhere."

Thalia nodded, and grabbed one. Percy took the other one, and I looked a the two in disbelief, "I just got those, and I can't even paddle? Wow." I crawled over to the two unconscious people, and dragged Grover with me. Percy and Thalia gave me a sheepish look before they started to paddle in who knows what direction.

Grover and I tried to get the other two awake, and used every method possible. I slapped Nico, plugged his nose and moved it, opened his eyelids, etc. but I would _not _perform CPR. If anyone had to do it, I would make Grover or Percy do it… I don't want to explain why.

I looked over to see Juniper open her eyes, softly fluttering them open. I smiled when I saw this, happily thinking of how nice it would be to have Juniper back. Nico… I don't know how to get the man awake. I saw that Thalia was getting tired, so I crawled over to her.

"Want to switch places?" I asked, and Thalia looked at me sleepily.

"What do you think?" Thalia joked, handing me the paddle. I laughed and took it. She crawled over to Nico, and did her fair share of trying to get him awake. I hadn't heard anything from Percy lately, so I looked over to where he was supposed to be.

Percy was paddling with me at a steady pace, but I could tell he had his mind elsewhere. His eyes looked to be the color of the sea, and the sun was drawn to his raven black hair… I seriously think the man was glowing… and I'm not kidding about this.

"AHHHHH!"

Someone screamed from behind me, waking me up from that little diagnosis I was doing on Percy… not that he had anything wrong with him. The guy was a walking girl magnet. I'm sure he has a woman waiting for him back home.

_SHUT UP ANNABETH!_

I forced myself from those thoughts and looked back to see who screamed. Thalia had her mouth close to Nico's ear, who was holding his ear with his face scrunched up in pain. I'm pretty sure I had an idea of what just happened. Thalia screamed in his ear, Nico woke up... rather unhappy.

"Was that really necessary?" Percy asked in disbelief. Thalia smiled at him and nodded innocently. I have a feeling I was going to like this girl. She did what she wanted and didn't care whatever anyone else thought. My type of person.

"Nico woke up, didn't he?" Thalia challenged, making Percy raise his hands in a surrender stance. He had put the strip on the platform before he did that… or else he'd be taking a plunge with the sharks.

Soon after, everything settled down, I gave the paddle to Nico to do, and Percy gave his to Grover. Everyone else got together and thought up a plan. Paddle to an island, and survive. I'm sure someone would be smart enough to check all the forms of land by the plane crash for any survivors. It would make sense…

"I think we should go to sleep… have shifts," Juniper said, looking at everyone. The sun was going down, and we _were _going to need some sleep.

"Good idea," I said, "I'll take second shift… I don't want to fall asleep when I'm doing it. We don't have to paddle or anything, just let the waves take us somewhere."

Percy nodded, "I'll take first shift. I'm good for another five hours."

"How many shifts would there be?" Thalia asked, looking between Percy and me.

"It depends on how fast the person who's volunteering gets tired," Percy explained. I nodded in agreement, kind of wanting a part in this too.

Soon later, everyone but Percy fell asleep. As soon as I closed my eyes, having a mindset of going to sleep, I ended up going to sleep.

**-Percy Jackson POV-**

I watched as everyone slept. Gosh… I don't know what to do now… Beckendorf is probably thinking the worst, and I'd really hate to be in his situation. But at the same time, I'd trade him any day for what's going on right now… but to be honest, I could never do that to him.

I'm glad I was the one here in this situation. I just hope that my new friends survive… I mean, it was really nice to meet Annabeth and finally have someone to really talk to… who understood a lot of what was flowing through my head. I could tell she thought through things, paying attention to detail greatly.

It scared me half to death, seeing her in the water with a tiger shark. I knew she handled it well, but at the same time I _wanted _her to be terrified. I don't know why… I guess it would get me a better mindset on what was really happening in my head.

Too much stuff happened in that one little time that I met her. We talked like there was no tomorrow, I understood her, she understood me. The plane we were on crashed. I woke up from the plane crash, only to find her in the water with one of the most vicious sharks you could encounter. She came up with an amazing idea on how to get home alive.

I looked out at the moonlit seas, and closed my eyes as I remembered my father flashes of his smiling face over my crib appeared. He went out to sea, and never returned. My mother… she was a wreck when he left. I was only 8 months old… it used to make me sad when I saw my friends hanging out with their dads, throwing a Football or Frisbee around at central park.

Chiron really helped me out with that, though. He was like a second father to me, teaching me things that I knew he treasured within himself. My mother was happy to see me have a father figure in my life, but at the same time I knew that it pained her to see me with a different man, not my father, but I could still see that happiness in her eyes when I told her about Chiron.

I came out of my charade, seeing that the sun was coming up… whoops. I guess I was awake the whole night… but it's not like I never did that, with working at the lab, dealing with family stuff… sometimes I just forget to sleep.

I heard someone come up from behind me, and I had a feeling I knew who it was.

"I thought I told you I'd take second shift," Annabeth said, but I ignored her. Instead, my eyes were locked on one thing… land!

"Land…" I mumbled, my eyes wide.

"What?" Annabeth asked, obviously expecting a whole different answer.

"Land! Look!" I exclaimed, pointing to the island. It had a forest that I couldn't see through, and I had a feeling it was a pretty big island for being in the middle of the ocean. And not on the maps. I didn't see anyone or anything at the beach, so I knew it was not inhabited by humans… at least, not yet.

"I'm going to wake up the others," Annabeth said gleefully, "Don't think I forgot what you did last night, Jackson." I looked at her sheepishly before she crawled back to go get the others to wake up. We finally had a plus side in our little vacation.

**I'm happy with how this chapter turned out. Are you?**

**~GoGreen52**


	4. Alone

**Hey! I'm actually now at my cousin's house, writing this from there so… here's the newest chapter of Stranded!**

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 4 – Alone**

**-Annabeth POV-**

I'm happy that we found land. But the one thing that is really making me mad is that Percy decided to go off on his own and stay awake through the night. It's almost as if he doesn't trust me… or all of us.

"Wake up!" I exclaimed, shaking everyone. Grover and Juniper woke up right away, and I had a feeling it must be a scientist thing. Thalia and Nico just grumbled in their sleep. So, not really up for an argument, I took their noses and pulled.

Their eyes shot open, and Thalia slapped my hand away, while Nico, of all people, slapped my _face._

"OWE!"

"Sorry," Thalia sighed, "You shouldn't have taken my nose like that in the first place, though."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I was trying to get you and this big idiot over here to wake up. Cause' guess what?"

"_What_? What is so important that you had to wake _me _up?" Nico asked, exaggerating everything every chance he got.

"We found land, bone head," I told him, and crawled back to the front of the little raft thing with the others behind me. Percy was paddling towards the island, and from the sweat on his nose, I could tell he needed help.

Without thinking any more, I crawled to the other paddle and started to help him. We paddled in synchronization, much like we had done before. I scowled in remembrance of how he decided to just go off with the rest of the night, while I was ready to wake up and let the man sleep. But apparently he lost track of time, which is a really bad excuse.

"Annabeth, we are going to have to swim to shore- the current coming back to far too strong to paddle there," Percy told me, though I knew It was directed to everyone.

"How can we swim through it if we can't even paddle through it?" I asked, looking at the waters in front of us warily. I heard that drowning is one of the worst ways to die. How would they know that? I have no idea. But I have to agree with them on that one…

"We just swim. It won't make such a difference, considering the water on the top flows faster… just swim as hard as you can for three seconds and you're through. Then… it's waves to the shore from there."

Everyone nodded, including myself.

"Good. Everyone ready?" Percy asked, and we all positioned ourselves so we were facing the island. I looked at Percy, his eyes as green and blue as the sea as ever. I could feel the concentration radiating off of him.

"Yeah," I croaked, unable to hide how nervous I was about doing this. I mean, earlier I was almost attacked by some freaking sharks, and now I'm going back into shark infested waters… just waiting to be used as food to them.

I saw the scared look in everyone else's faces, and knew they could just nod. They were as scared as I was. Looking out into the waters, I saw some darker shapes, huge shapes. And the gut feeling I had at the moment… wasn't a good one.

"On the count of three," Percy announced, taking a deep sigh.

"One." _Please don't let me do this._

"Two." _Just back away slowly, Annabeth._

"Three." _Crap._

We jumped in the water, and immediately took off. I felt the pressure of water invading my nose, and I knew it would sting for awhile after. My eyes were burning from the salty water, but I shook it off also. _Focus on the swimming part._

It was extremely hard to swim against the current. It felt like the water was coming at me everywhere, forcing me to go, well, everywhere. Usually I guess it'll take you in one direction, but you can think about it now while I tell you that I was swimming pretty wildly.

I saw from the corners of my eyes people swimming like I was, well, except for Percy and Juniper. They looked like pro swimmers.

The water pressure against me immediately vanished, and it felt like I was swimming in the ocean without all of that added pressure. Huh… I guess I _did _swim across the current. I smiled to myself, proud that I actually did that.

"Now stick together and swim straight for land," Percy announced, choking on some water along the way.

We started swimming for land, and I had to work on my skills, forgetting about the sharks below us. I couldn't take a deep breath and close my eyes, because of the situation put upon us. I couldn't just stop, and wait for my mind to catch up to me, because I would lose my cool.

_I just need to swim._

I did the front crawl, paddling and kicking with my hands and feet as hard as I could. I made sure I didn't kick above surface, because I wasn't stupid enough to know that sharks are curious by the splashes, and want to know what happened. Then, if they see me, seriously… do we really want to figure that out?

But before I knew it, I felt my feet kicking the hard, slimy ground and stood up. I saw that Percy, Juniper, and Thalia were all on ground, but I could see they weren't really taking in that they got there first… more of they were bending over, putting their hands on their knees, and coughing.

If I must say it, Percy was the only one _not _doing that. I walked up to him and turned to look out at sea like he was.

"Good plan, but now you need to get some rest. I'll get everyone rounded up together and make some shelter. Just go lie down and sleep… you need it," I told him, turning to look him in the eye.  
>"I don't need any-" Percy was cut off by having to yawn, "sleep."<p>

"Yes you do," I insisted, pushing him off to the shade, under what looks to be a palm tree. "Now stay here, and go to sleep." I pushed him down, and pointed my finger at him, "I'll be watching you."

Percy held his arms up in a surrender motion, and laid his back down onto the sand.

I gave him a little smirk before returning to the others. They were all in a little group huddle, and I smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as I thought…

"Okay. Time to build shelter," I said, walking up to a gap in their circle.

"Hey Annabeth!" Thalia exclaimed, "Where's Percy?" her expression went from happy to confused all in at least one millisecond.

"Sleeping. He stayed up the whole night last night out on watch… apparently he 'lost track of time'," I explained. Everyone nodded, having seen the bags under Percy's eyes this morning. _What a seaweed brain, _I thought.

"We all decided to look for wood, but to do it more quicker, we needed to split up," Thalia said, looking at me for approval. I was happy they came up with an idea, but wondered who would split up with who. I mean, Percy's sleeping, so there'll be two people and three people in groups.

"Okay. I like that idea. But who'll be in the groups?" I asked, and Thalia's eyes went wide.

"Draw sticks?" Thalia asked, her voice more confused than mine was before.

"I think Grover and I should be in different groups, considering we study plants and trees," Juniper suggested, blushing pink. _She was shy…_

"Sounds good to me. I think Thalia, Nico, and Juniper should be one group, while Grover and I are the other. It's a plan?" I asked, and everyone nodded in agreement. We all split up, but I headed for Percy instead of the forest.

"Where are you going?" Grover asked, looking at me weirdly. Great. He thinks I'm stupid now.

"Just wait," I said, and squatted down. I made a little note in the sand to Percy, telling him where we were going to go… incase he woke up and we were gone.

_Percy-_

_We all went to search for wood, and we'll be back soon._

_-Annabeth._

Grover nodded at me, giving me an approving look. "Smart idea, Annabeth."

"Thanks. Now let's get going."

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**~GoGreen52**


	5. Phone Calls

**I'm alive! Okay back to the AN… I'm writing a story called Worlds Collide on , so check it out (It's going to be my best one yet … I think) the link to the story is on my profile, so if you like my stories, you'll love that one.**

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 5- Phone Calls**

**-Charles Beckendorf POV-**

Silena and I had just gone to sleep when I got the phone call.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice clouded with drowsiness.

"_Is this Dr. Charles Beckendorf?"_ the person asked. My eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. _If work has anything to do with this… I might have to quit my job. I'm off the freaking clock here, people!_

"Yes this is him," I snapped.

"_Dr. Percy Jackson's plane went down earlier today. We need you to come to the bureau and identify a body, since there was no real explosion, just the crash. We found the plane, and we need you to help us figure out where his body would be."_

My eyes widened, and I sat down on the couch that I was near, my available hand gripping onto the seat. All the family Percy had is dead, since his father, who was a sailor, went to Sea and never came back when Percy was 8.

His mom died of breast cancer three years ago, and he had no siblings, and ironicly, his mother was an only child when her parents died in a plane crash. Sally Jackson took care of her uncle, an unmarried and child-free man, until he died when she was eighteen.

So… Percy really has no family.

That means I'm the one who _has _to do this.

"I'll be there," I told the phone, and I realized that the man must have been waiting for awhile… but he must be used to it.

"_Good. Thank you for doing this, Dr."_

"I'm doing it for Percy." I hung up, and set the phone down carefully. I don't want to wake up Adam or Silena. But she'll probably wake up when I walk in our room anyways…

I walked into the room, running my hands through my hair. Adam is eight, Percy was eight when his father died out at sea. _What a sick life I have_. Adam views Percy as a second father, or rather an uncle. And he _is _Adam's godfather.

"What's wrong Charlie?" Silena's tired voice came from the bed.

"I-I have to go to the bureau, here in New York," I told her.

"What? Why?" She asked, her little eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

"Percy's flight went down. They want to see if I can identify a body, and a place he sat on the plane," my extremely sad voice quavered a bit at identifying a body. But I'm supposed to be strong here.

"Oh my God… oh my God… this is all a dream… _not _happening!" Silena screamed at the end, covering her eyes with her hands, and started to sob.

I walked over to her, and held her. That was all I could really do. I couldn't say it was all going to be okay, because it wasn't. I couldn't say he'll be fine, because he wasn't. I couldn't say he was going to come home, and be a part of this family again, because he wasn't.

And all of the things I _could_ say… I couldn't say it.

"Mommy? What's wrong?"

We turned to look at a mini me and Silena. Adam.

"Hunny, I'll tell you later. Now we're going to the police station. _Together._" She looked at me, and gave me a watery smile. "That's what Percy would want," she whispered.

**-Piper McLean POV-**

I had just gotten home from work when I got the phone call.

The phone call that ended up changing my life forever.

"Hello?" I asked, setting my car keys and work bag on the island in the kitchen.

"_Is this Miss Piper McLean?" _ Someone asked.

"This is her," I said, kicking my shoes off and grabbing a glass to put my milk in. I can't go to sleep without milk.

"_Annabeth Chase's Plane went down earlier today. We have no confirmation that she did in fact die, but we need you to come and identify a body… if you can," _a woman's voice said. She sounded charismatic, but I knew it was fake.

I was stuck in my spot, and dropped the glass onto the floor, shattering into multiple pieces. I couldn't speak. I was locked in this position, not sure what I was supposed to do. Annabeth was like my older sister… I was basically her apprentice… I had no idea what to do.

"I can do that," my voice croaked. I sounded like a robot, not real.

"_Good! Come to the police station, and we'll help you out from there," _the woman's happy voice said. Then, she hung up. Rude.

I put my hands on the table, and tried to hold myself up, but I slumped down, and started to sob. She couldn't be _gone. _She's like my _sister. _

I grabbed the car keys, and ran out the door. I needed to know if they found the body. I needed to know if she could really rest in peace.

**-Bianca Di'Angelo /Garcia POV-**

I got the phone call right after I put Ali to sleep. He usually wants me to read him a story, and sing to him before he goes to sleep. I usually hum a lullaby that my mother used to put me and Nico to sleep, mainly because I want him to get a taste of my culture.

I smiled at Weston, who was standing in the doorway, leaning against the wood frame. I wonder how long he has been there… and I didn't even notice him.

"Hey," I said, leaning into his chest. He hugged me, and smiled down at me.

"Hey to you too," Weston whispered, smiling down at me.

"How long were you here?" I asked, and almost laughed at his 'thoughtful' expression.

"Awhile… what was that song you were humming?" Weston asked. "I never heard it before."

"My mother used to hum that song to Nico and I when we would go to sleep. I wanted Ali to have a little piece of her. I mean, ever since she died, Nico really hasn't done anything to remember her. I doubt he even _remembers _her… so I wanted to carry a piece of her with my family," I explained, and Weston smiled at that.

"That's great. I wish I could've met her."

"I wish you could've too."

We stayed like that in silence, watching our perfect little boy sleep. I wonder what he thinks sometimes, when he does exactly the opposite I'm expecting.

"Hey… speaking of Nico, have you heard from him at all?" Weston asked, giving me a questioning look. I shrugged, about to reply, when the phone started to go off.

"Hold that thought," I told him, jogging to get the phone before it would wake Ali up.

"Hello?"

"_Is this Mrs. Bianca Garcia?" _a voice asked. Weston looked at me, mouthing, _who is it? _I shrugged, giving him an 'I don't know,' look.

"Yes, this is her," I said, raising an eyebrow. "Is there a reason why you're calling me this late?" I was getting pretty mad. Seriously, who does this person think they are?

"_Why yes, actually, there is. Nico Di'Angelo's flight crashed, and as of right now, we know there were no survivors. Sorry for your loss. But we need you to come into the station to hopefully identify a body, and get kept up with the news. We would also like to know what seat number he was in, to hopefully determine where his body may have been. Again, sorry for your loss."_

I felt all of my blood disappear from my face. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I didn't know what to do.

"Bianca?"

I was going to be all alone… no other family members were alive but Nico…

I didn't feel the phone being taken away from me. I didn't really feel anything… everything was all a horrible nightmare. My life was a horrible nightmare…

"Who is this?" my husband asked. I vaguely heard him talking to the person in the background. _My life wasn't a complete nightmare… I had a husband, Weston Garcia, and a son, Alexander Garcia. I had my own family that I could care for._

But Nico… he's the only person left from my past… and now-

_He's gone._

"Yes, we'll get there as soon as possible. Thank you."

I heard Weston hang up, from the sound it made. I've heard it many times, from when I hung up on my little brother. I've called him a low life. A loser. What kind of sister am I?

"Oh, Bianca," Westion sighed, and pulled me into an embrace. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too," my voice came out in a croak. I haven't even shed a tear. I was too shocked. I keep on thinking he'll be coming home, we'll pick up on the paranormal missions like we used to. But he's _not _coming home. We're _not _going on another paranormal mission.

_My little brother was gone. _

**-Jason Grace POV-**

I got the phone call that changed my life forever when I finally got my mother to stop drinking… for the night, anyways.

To get the story straight, my mom was a washed up actress. She did drugs, along with being an alcoholic. I have to admit, I was pretty angry Thalia left me to deal with all of her rants on how never to end up like her, all of the constant lectures on how I should never cheat on a woman.

And trust me… I'd never do that to a woman after I've see what it's capable of.

Yes, my father cheated on my mom. And when she let him in again, he left her. Broke her heart not once, but twice.

_Twice._

You'd think he'd learn the first time, and to make It worse, my mom found out he was cheating when she was going to announce her pregnancy with Thalia.

It ruined her, but she held her sanity for the life of my older sister. Then, four years later, my father had the nerve to show up at the doorstep and beg for forgiveness.

Well, my mom fell for it. She got pregnant with me, and my dad left her. He claimed he wasn't ready to be a father. I scowled at that thought.

Thalia looked more like dad, while I looked like mom. The only thing that people can really tell we're siblings is the last name we have. Grace.

I was pulled out of my reverie when the phone rang… I looked at the clock. 1:34 A.M. unusual time to call someone.

Curious, I answered it. "Hello?"

"_Is this Mr. Jason Grace?"_

I looked at the phone, confused. "Yes, this is him."

"_Good. Thalia Grace's flight crashed earlier yesterday. We need you to come to the station as soon as you can so we can see if you can ID her with a body we have in the morgue. Sorry for your loss."_

The person hung up. Well…

Wait.

_Thalia._

_Flight crashed._

_ID body._

_Morgue._

_Sorry…_

_Loss._

Thalia… is dead?

"No… NO! _NO!" _I yelled, slamming the phone on the table. Tears started to form in my eyes. I couldn't believe it. Thalia… my _sister_ gone? Dead?

This is all a dream. A nightmare. It _has _to be. I pinched myself, but felt it. I did it again. I still felt it. I kept on doing it until I felt wetness under my hand, and held my hand up. My two fingers I used to pinch with had blood on the top.

I shrank down, falling down to the floor, sobbing. _Thalia was my sister. Thalia IS my sister… but she's dead. Oh, God._

"Jason Grace, what is wrong?" a stern voice of my mother asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I growled, my head in my hands.

"Yes I would," she snapped.

"If you want to know so badly, your daughter's dead. Died in a plane crash," I snarled. Wow… cranky much?

"Serves her right," my _mom _mumbled, and grabbed a bottle of wine.

_Wait… what did she say?_

"Get out."

My mom stopped pouring her glass of wine and looked at me. "_What?"_

"I said: _Get out," _I said, standing up and glaring at her.

"You can't kick your _own mother_ out!" she screeched.

"I think I just did."

**-Rachel Elizabeth Dare POV-**

I got the phone call when I was sleeping. Yeah. Sleep walking.

"Hello?"

"_Blah, Blah, Blah, Juniper Bushe's plane crashed, blah, blah,blah…"_ was all I heard.

"Wait… what?" I was awake now…

"_Juniper Busche's plane crashed and I need you to come to the police station to ID the body."_

"On my way. Buhbye."

I ran outside with my car keys, and wearing my PJs and bunny slippers.

**Rachel… really?**

**Well, it was hard to write Bianca's because I don't ever want to feel her pain. Losing a little brother…**

**~GoGreen52 **

**READ WORLDS COLLIDE! **

**As Rachel says, buhbye!**


	6. Dreams and Discoveries

**Hello people of earth! Wow… I'm guessing you might be mad at me, considering how long I've made you all wait. Well, sorry about that, but I've finished Homecoming (a great story, so if you have time, feel free to read it) and I've started Taken (same thing as the last one!) **

**Feel free to review or PM some things you want our favorite hero's to go through. Don't be easy on them! **

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 6- Dreams and Discoveries**

**-Percy Jackson POV-**

_I could hear the crash. _

_I could smell the burning bodies._

_I could feel the pain as the shock finally left me, leaving me feeling naked._

_I felt alone._

_People were screaming in pure agony, some were crying over a lost loved one. I couldn't get myself to move, I felt like the whole world had just come down on me. _

_But the worst of it all was that I couldn't do anything about it._

_I opened my eyes, seeing for myself what was happening. Blood was everywhere, staining the sides of the plane, staining the ocean itself. I felt sick. _

_I looked down at myself, trying to see if I was hurt. I felt pain all over my body. If someone were to ask me where it hurt, I wouldn't be able to give you an answer. I was hurt, feeling the pain _everywhere. _In fact, if someone were to ask me that, I'd probably punch them in the face._

_Do I _look _like I hurt only in one place?_

_My body told me that I was true to what I was feeling. I had lost my shoes, and probably my mind. There were cuts all over my body, both major and minor. My hand looked like it had just been attacked by a cheese shredder, and my head hurt like a mother. There was probably a bump on my forehead or something._

"_Help me! Someone please help me!"_

_My eyebrows furrowed. I knew that voice. I knew it had some meaning to me, because how it had stuck out from all the others. All I knew was that I wanted to help them- that I was going to help them._

_I suddenly found the strength to move, and noticed for the first time that I wasn't on land, but I was on water. I turned around in a 360, and saw that there was indeed no land in sight. _

_Dang._

"_Where are you?" I called, yelling in the general direction that the cry for help came from._

_I knew I caught a lucky break when the same voice, but more anguished before, answered me. "Over here!"_

_I knew where the person was now. _

_I headed in the direction that their voice was leading me to, so different yet so familiar to what was in my head. I couldn't remember who it was. I hopped from the pieces of the plane that were floating, getting closer to helping them_

_That was when I caught a glance at the familiar blonde hair, sprawled out in all different directions on a piece of the fallen plane._

Annabeth.

_It was her voice… she was hurt._

_I started to move faster than I was before, in a hurry to get to the blonde-haired beauty. _

_When I got to her side, that was when I finally noticed how bad off she really was. "Oh, Annabeth," I mumbled. _

_I crouched by her side, seeing how oddly shaped one of her legs was. The more I looked up, the worse it got. Her stomach was a complete bloody mess. There was red and pink all over; so much that I couldn't see where the source was._

_Her usual calculating grey eyes were looking glassy, and looking helpless. One look that from her attitude, that I'd never expect. Another thing I noticed is that they were threatening to close._

Not a good sign.

"_Annabeth, sweetheart, you need to keep your eyes open. I need you to not close your eyes," I coaxed, seeing how her eyes were steering all over, trying to keep focus._

"_I-I'm so _tired_ Percy," she said, her voice getting softer. I saw that on her face there were traces of blood near her mouth. She had been coughing up blood._

_I shook my head, refusing to believe it. She couldn't leave me. She couldn't leave me alone._

"_Annabeth, please, you can't leave me here."_

_Tears started falling down my face, and I weakly wiped them away with the back of my hands. _

"_Percy, I need to go," she rasped. "Th-Thank you for being here."_

_I put my hands to her cheeks, and I felt a little spark. The same spark I felt on a plane, before this all happened. I wanted to spend more time with her, to get to know her… and now she was leaving me alone._

"_You're welcome, Annabeth," I took a deep breath, readying myself to say the words I've never wanted to say. "You can sleep, now."_

_She smiled up at me, one last time, and her eyes fluttered to a close._

_She was dead._

_I let out a cry of anguish, of anger. She was dead, and she left me alone. I took my hands from her cheeks, and put them to my heart. It felt like it was burning. I felt like I was burning from the inside out._

_I rocked back onto my heels, scooting away from her. I couldn't bear to look, to remember her face. I looked at my bloodied hands, all the while thinking, _why her?

_I closed my eyes, trying to get it out of my head. _

_Everything turned into darkness._

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

My eyes snapped open.

I took everything in, seeing for myself where I was.

I was on a beach, under a giant tree.

It was all just a dream. Annabeth wasn't dead. She was on this island with me, she was safe. All of my friends were safe.

_Speaking of friends, where were they?_

I sat up, taking a harder look around. There were foot marks everywhere, all over the sand. I looked around more, and saw a pile of supplies next to me, some that I think the others probably pooled together from the plane crash.

I still couldn't believe that the plane crashed.

_I'm seriously lucky to be alive. _

When I stood up, I felt my muscles strain as I took on my weight. I looked around, and smiled at what I saw. Someone cared enough to leave a note for me.

_Percy-_

_We all went to search for wood, and we'll be back soon._

_-Annabeth._

Okay, Annabeth cared enough to leave a note for me.

I admit that it was pretty smart to go and get wood, we could use it for both a shelter and a fire. Both of those are pretty crucial if you want to survive for more than a few days.

_Which is pretty much all it will take, right? _

Oh, who am I kidding. The weather around this area had been bad, and from my experience, I knew we might not be seeing any planes or boats in this area until it clears up. But here, on this island it wasn't bad. There were just a lot of clouds in the distance, but they looked a bit pink, so I knew they weren't going to come towards us.

_Even though I'm a marine biologist, doesn't mean I know about clouds, okay?_

I looked around at where I was. I was alone on the beach, nothing to do. I mean, I could analyze the water, and see where in the pacific we were, based off of how much salt was in the water.

Or, I could look around.

I choose the second idea.

I left a little note for the others, just in case they got back before me. It was simple, like Annabeth's, and by where I was sleeping. Therefore they know I hadn't gotten eaten by something… or something.

I sat off in the one direction that had no footprints going towards it, and started my search in the clump of trees. I didn't really know what to call it, like whether or not it was a rainforest or just a simple forest, so I guess I'll just stick with a clump of trees.

_Tall trees, at that._

I must've gotten scratched a thousand times, and tripped about two. This wasn't some kind of hiking trail, it was wild, and looked like no one had been here… ever.

The third time I fell, I tripped over a stupid old log.

Luckily, I caught myself, but unlucky, as I felt something really gooey all over my hand.

I quickly straightened as I saw what I caught myself on- a tree. But what was weird, was my hand was full of some sort of syrup. It was like white syrup.

_What if it's poisonous? _

Wait. This is tree sap.

But what is it doing all over the tree?

I looked up, and saw a _huge _slash mark on the tree, about ten meters up. I knew it probably was from something… something huge.

I shook my head, trying to dismiss it as some kind of weird coincidence, but a voice kept on nagging me in the back of my head, knowing something was up.

Deciding that I might want to bring Grover or Juniper around here to get their advice at what happened, I pulled out some tall grass all around the tree, and moved some rocks around to mark the spot. Something tells me that we might need to come back here.

When I was done, I decided to head back. I knew it was probably going to get dark soon, since the sky was dimming a bit. Besides, I was going to have to help out at the base camp.

I made my way back, following the trail I left of grass and whatever you'd find on the clump of tree's floor that was pushed down. I wiped off the sap from my hand on a few leaves, and finished off with wiping them off on my pants.

That was going to have to do for now.

When I broke through the tree line, I saw everyone there, but me, of course. They looked to be trying to set something up with the wood they found, and Annabeth was showing them where to put everything.

"No, no, no. That's too small, Nico. We need a larger piece of wood to use for the base," she instructed, taking the piece of wood from his hands, and replacing it with a bigger one. "Now _this_ one would do the job perfectly."

I snickered at Nico's confused look, and I knew he couldn't see the difference between two pieces of wood. They heard me, and their heads snapped in my direction.

"Nice of you to finally show up, Jackson. Now, go and get some food," she commanded, before turning back around to show the others what to do.

_I loved how she could just tell me to 'get some food' and trust me to know how that means._

Shaking my head, I walked over, flashing a smile at the others, who seemed to be just as annoyed as I was. I shrugged at them, picking up a thicker stick, and walked to the place where I had fallen asleep just a short while before to grab a sharper edged rock I'd seen before.

I used the rock to make the tip of the stick sharp, sharp enough so I could spear something with enough force.

I took off my shoes and socks, which by now had dried, along with my shirt. I didn't exactly want to be cold and miserable later, now did I? I looked out at the water and smiled. _Time to go spear-fishing._

Running out to the water, I got into attack form. I learned from others how to do this, more in particular, people who actually spear-fish to survive. I was lucky enough to learn from some of the best in the world, so I knew it will probably be no problem to do this.

I looked around in the water, coming to a halt. I stood still, knowing that the slightest movement would scare a good fish away. I was knee-deep in a little 'bay' area, where the waves weren't coming on at full force. I knew that some fish would come here to eat for themselves, eating what ate the tree's supplements.

I could get more into detail, but to be honest, I'm really hungry and want to eat some fish.

I smiled as I saw some prey. A good sized sea bass, one that could feed all six of us, burled my way. It was a big thing, and I knew it would taste really good. I poised to strike, sending the spear right at the creature's eye.

The spear went through the skull, killing the fish.

I grabbed the spear, along with the fish, which probably weighed 5-10 pounds. Doesn't seem like much until you actually hold it in your arms.

I took the spear out, and washed it in the water. I sat the bass on a large leave, and wrapped it in it. It covered most of the mid-section, which was good so I could get a good grip on it. I picked up the bass and the spear, walking towards the base camp.

_Tonight, we feast!_

I couldn't help but let that thought circle in my head.

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! Next chapter coming up sooner than the last! So… don't get worried ;)**

**~GoGreen52**


	7. Round' the Campfire

**Well… it's odd how I have to think back to where I was going with this story a few months ago. I hope you like where it's going, because I'm a little iffy.**

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 7- Round' the Campfire**

**-Annabeth POV-**

Grover and I were walking around the forest, trying to find some dry sticks or logs. The other three were in charge of getting the sturdier wood to make the shelter out of. I wanted Grover and Juniper in the different groups, since they knew way more than anyone else about trees and the other kinds of wildlife.

Grover was a great help, too. He knew exactly where to find the dry wood.

_Well, he _has_ been studying wildlife all his life. It makes sense._

With Grover's help, it took about an hour to find good pieces of wood that we could burn. "Grover, you think we should head back?" I asked, looking at my nervous friend.

Wait… he's nervous.

"Grover, why are you nervous?" I started looking around, trying to find something that could make the wildlife man nervous. Bad case scenarios started to course through my mind, thinking of maybe a lion or bear jumping out of the brush in front of me.

He looked at me with wide eyes. "Annabeth, don't move a muscle."

I stopped moving, my arms full of wood that I wish I could drop. My eyes immediately widened, and I looked at where I was standing.

_Quicksand._

I started sinking into the sand, looking at Grover with wide eyes. When I noticed that he wasn't standing in the sand, I started to think more for myself.

"Grover, a little help here?"

He visibly shook out of his shock, setting down the wood that was in his arms to look around for something. He went somewhere where I couldn't see him, and I started to freak out. I looked around myself for something to grab onto. _Screw the wood._

I heard a weird noise, something sounding like a mashed together _'pop' _mixed with a fart, and I froze.

The sand started taking me in even faster.

_Okay, screw the wood!_

I heaved the wood onto the normal land, and surprisingly none of it fell into the pit that I was now stuck in. "GROVER! HURRY UP!"

I held my arms up as the sand got to my stomach. Where the heck is Grover? Can't he understand I'm sinking here?

"Annabeth! I'm coming!"

_Thank God._

The sand was up to the start of my ribs now, and I saw Grover come running with a long vine in his hand. I noted how it was thick, so I didn't have to worry about it snapping on me.

"Hurry up!" I exclaimed, as I heard that weird popping noise again. The sand started to pull me in faster. "Pass me that vine!"

Grover stopped what he was doing for a second, turning to look at me. "Well, technically it's not a vine, it actually-"

"JUST PASS ME THE VINE!"

"Okay, okay!"

He threw me the vine thing, just in time as the sand was creeping up on my shoulders. Grover pulled, straining against the sand, which was pulling pretty hard too. _It probably wanted to eat me up._

"Grover, pull harder!" I exclaimed, feeling as the sand gained some distance, coming back up to my waist. I was looking at the sand that was eating me up as I felt a hard tug, stronger than what Grover was doing earlier.

I almost let the vine go from the sudden force, and I looked up to see all of the others, besides Percy, now pulling on the rope. "Nice to see you," I called sarcastically, flashing a smile. _I had an odd way of ignoring my 'near-death' moments with sarcasm._

They were too busy pulling me out to reply… _or I think that's why they didn't reply._

I got pulled back to the solid ground, and letting go of the vine, I stood up quickly, backing up a few feet from the quicksand. "I am _never _going alone with Grover anywhere again."

Everyone chuckled, even Grover did too, and he punched my shoulder jokingly. "Whatever, Annabeth. You're just embarrassed that I practically saved your life."

Thalia and Juniper cracked up, and Nico put a hand on Grover's shoulder. "You can believe whatever you'd like, man."

I just smiled, and picked up the pieces of wood that I had thrown over here. "So I take it you got the wood?" I asked pointedly at the other group.

Thalia nodded, smiling. "Juniper was a big help. I mean, who knew there were so many kinds of trees in a forest. They all look the same to me." Nico nodded in assent as we all looked over to Juniper who was smiling.

"I knew you would be a big help," I told her, giving her a large smile.

Juniper shrugged, blushing.

"I think we should head back. It's starting to get a little dark, and we have a shelter to build. Not to mention, we have to find some food to eat. I'm starving," I said, earning agreements from everyone else. "Let's go."

We all grabbed the sticks and logs that we were carrying, which was when I noticed that Juniper was smart to have grabbed four five inch thick logs that seemed to be about 7 feet. Thalia and Nico carried those, while Juniper carried some long pieces of bark. _Just like I instructed._ We all got a move on and followed the trail that Grover and I had made back to the base camp.

I made sure I was looking where I was walking. No need to have another run-in with a pit of quicksand, right? _Thought so._

The hike to the beach wasn't really eventful. You know, just some bugs that scared Thalia or Nico, some spider that made me walk away quicker, Grover and Juniper acting so calm and in their own world… you know, the works.

_I wonder what Percy's doing._

I knew by now he probably woke up… but what was he going to do, sit on the beach all day? Even though I don't really know Percy, or any of these people that well, he didn't seem like the type of person to just wait on the beach.

I knew he was probably getting into something.

We got the beach, and I noticed that Percy wasn't sleeping anymore. He wasn't even on the beach at all… well, from what I could see. I dropped the sticks on the beach beside some lone trees that stuck out of the forest, also close to where Percy was sleeping.

I rubbed my hands on my pants, trying to get the stinging feeling out of them.

_It didn't really work, but a girl can try, right?_

The others followed my lead, and I made sure we didn't waste any time getting back to work. We had a shelter to build.

"Okay. I need you all to get the four large logs, and push them into the ground as hard as you can, about this far apart from each other," I said, dragging my heel across the sand, making a good seven by seven feet square.

They did as told, Thalia and Juniper helping eachother on their own.

"Now, take them out of the ground, really smoothly so you could still have the hole," I instructed, smiling as they all worked out perfectly. "Now, set the logs aside, and dig a hole that wide, for about your arm's length. But Grover, Juniper, I need you two to go back in the forest and get some more logs like this. Also, try to find some of that vine to use so we can connect everything together."

Grover and Juniper nodded, looking relieved that they could get out of digging holes. "Make it quick, too," Thalia added, looking annoyed as she dug the hole.

I gave her a small smile, and got on my knees in front of a hole, and started to dig.

"Thalia! Stop getting sand in my face!" Nico exclaimed, causing me to look up and see Thalia scooping the sand out of the hole, back-handing it hard so it would nail Nico in the face. I started to laugh my butt off.

"What? I'm hitting you in the face? Well in that case, I'm _not _sorry," she said, her tone telling me she was crabby. _We all are, though... so I guess it doesn't matter._

"Stop flirting you two, and get back to work," I said, throwing a wink in there, leaving two shocked people. But don't worry, after they got rid of that shock, they went right back to glaring at each other.

I ended up diggin two holes, considering it took Thalia and Nico forever to dig theirs since they wouldn't stop throwing sand at eachother. _I swear I'm stuck on this island with little kids._

Juniper and Grover got back to the beach, carrying four branches that were as long as the logs, but a little skinier. Instead of being five inches thick, it was more like three.

"Thanks guys," I acknowledged, standing up while wiping my sandy arms on my pants. The sand was seriously bugging me.

They put the branches on the ground. "No problamo amiga. I also got the vine that you asked for," Grover spoke. He held out the vine that was probably attached to something on his back, but who knows.

"Alright, let's get back to making the shelter, shall we?" I asked, smiling. They nodded, walking over to the place where Thalia and Nico were glaring at eachother.

_Not again…_

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

My plan was to use the logs as supporters, and make some sort of little hut using the vine to connect the branches and the tree bark to the top of the posts. It would get us some shade, which is good for now, but I'll probably work on making some sort of siding with leaves or something.

Who knows how long we're going to be here, anyways?

_No… we're going to get off this island._

I was instructing Nico on how to put the bark ontop of the hut when Percy came back. I was pretty glad he came back before dark, so we wouldn't have to go looking for him. I mean, you never know what could be in this forest after dark.

I had him go get some dinner, and I loved how he got down to work with no question at all, and grabbed a good piece of branches that Grover and I had picked up earlier. I had a feeling he was going to make a spear or something.

He _was _a marine biologist. He knows what he's doing.

We were just about done with the hut when Percy came back, holding a big fish. I smiled at him, and he gave me a small smile back, before setting the fish down near us, which was on a big leaf looking thing, and went off to go get some things.

_Probably to find something to skin the dang thing with. _

I put my thoughts aside and helped put the finishing touches on the hut.

"Guys, this is perfect. Now we can have shade, and some sense of security when we sleep… but tomorrow I want to get some sidings on this bad boy, don't you think?" I asked, going into 'architect mode'.

Thalia, looking quite proud of what she just did, crossed her arms and exammend it. "I have to say, this is a total A plus."

We all were standing and admiring the work while a throat cleared behind us. "Um… don't want to ruin the moment, but I need someone to help me, and we also need to make a fire."

Turning around, we saw Percy standing over the fish he caught that was on a large rock, and he was holding a really sharp looking rock, too.

"I'll help Percy. Someone know how to make fire?" I asked, looking at everyone.

"I'm not a damsel in distress. Of course I know how to make fire, Annie," Thalia exclaimed, crossing her arms. I smiled at her, nodding.

"You should show the others how to do it, you know, so they would be able to do it on their own ifthey ever get lost."

Thalia dragged Nico along to a little circle of rocks that I'm guessing Percy made, considering he was the only one that hasn't been in my line of sight for the past hour. The others followed suit, as they went off to help (and watch) Thalia build a fire.

I smiled a bit, and walked over to Percy.

"What do you need help with?" I asked, looking around for what I could possibly help him with.

"I need you to help me by keeping me company," Percy said sheepishly, giving me a small smile. "I knew that you would probably ask to help, but to be honest, I just need someone to talk to."

I gave Percy a small smile. "I think we all need someone to talk to right now, Percy."

"Don't think I don't know that Wise Girl."

We stayed in a comfortable silence for the rest of the time that he was skinning the fish in. I had my hands behind my back, occasionally rocking back and forth on my heels. My eyes caught the sunset, which was beautiful.

The sun was just about to go onto the water when I told Percy. "Percy, look at that."

He looked up from the fish, and out to the horizon. "That's my favorite part of coming out to the beaches… watching the sunset," he admitted, turning to look at me. All I saw was sincere emotions that made my heart skip a beat.

_Well, we all now know Percy's a sap._

"Well, look at you, showing your inner-woman," I joked, crossing my arms. I cocked an eyebrow, and stiffled a giggle as he did the same.

Whoa.. giggling… that's not normal.

"It's not my fault that I actually appreciate the beautiful sky."

I shrugged, and looked back out at the sunset that was slowly dying away.

Percy looked up at me, and wrapped the fish-pieces in the leaf he used when it was just caught. "I'm done… time to cook little fishy!"

He stood up, having been on his knees, and we walked to the fire where the others had been laughing, sitting around.

Grover, I guess, had gotten some of the steel from the raft ready for us to cook the fish on. I guess some of it had drifted off to the beach… Which… I wasn't mad about- it definatly made life easier.

"Ready for some fish?" Percy asked, holding the fish up like a waitress, making the rest of us laugh.

Percy got the fish on the steel, and we took a seat next to each other on a log that was placed out. Thalia and Juniper were on one, while the boys where on the other. Percy and I looked at each other, smiling awkwardly.

"Percy, tell us more about you," Juniper said, and I glared at the ground. _Was she hitting on him or something?_

Percy smiled at her softly. "Sure, why not? I've got nothing else to do. Well… my mom and I lived in New York my whole life. My dad was lost out at sea when I was 8 monthes old, so I never really met him," he explained, getting a far look in his eye. "I guess I wanted to become a marine biologist because of that, you know… and Chiron Brunner was not the one to tell me that I couldn't do that. He encouraged me, helping me pay for the education I needed to get there. He's like a second father to me."

I smiled at him, patting him on the back. He looked over at me, wearing a sad smile.

"Chiron's like a father to me, too. My parents weren't really there when I grew up, and Chiron was always there. It's kinda like he was the only dad I ever had in the first place," I said, trying to make Percy comfortable again.

"Why don't you tell us about you, Annabeth?" Grover asked, throwing a smirk in there.

Percy looked down at the ground now. And by how he was sitting there, I knew he was glaring.

_Wait… why would he be glaring now?_

"Well, I guess you could say my parents weren't really there for me, growing up. Chiron met up with me in school, and I guess he just became a mentor of mine. Like Percy, he knew I wanted to be an architect, and helped me get there. Now, I guess I spend all my time working as and architect with some good friends…"my voice trailed off.

_What are Piper and Malcolm thinking right now?_

"Speaking of friends and family… what about our friends and families? What are they thinking about right now? That we're dead?" I asked, and everyone's eyes visibly widened.

"Look, I have a lab partner and best friend that probably is worrying his butt off right now… dang, what about his kid? And my mother? My dad was lost at sea, now me too? This is going to kill her," Percy mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"What about Rachel?" Juniper muttered.

"What about Bianca? Dang, this is going to kill her!" Nico exclaimed, putting his head in his hands.

"I bet Jason thinks I left him alone with my mother… dang, he's going to kill me when we get back, he's probably going to tie me to a chair and throw it in the water," Thalia mumbled, massageing her temples.

Grover just looked at everyone in shock. I knew what was probably going on… he had no one to be worried for him. I locked eyes with him and shrugged. He smiled at me before turning to Juniper, who was having a mini freak-out, and asked her if she was okay.

I looked over at Percy, who seemed to have _everything _to lose, and gave him a hug. He looked like he needed it, so I helped my friend in need.

"We'll get out of this, Percy. I just know it."

He tensed, but relaxed at my touch, and went back to hugging me too. I don't know how I could keep that promise, but I knew it was going to be kept- do or die.

"We really need to get off this island, don't we?" Percy asked, and everyone else went silent, waiting for me to answer. He had his arm around my shoulders, the last thing remaining from our hug.

"Yeah… we really do."

**Took me 5 hours to do this. Hope you enjoyed!**

**REVIEW/PM**

**Let me know what you thought!**

**~GoGreen52**


	8. Missing

**It's been a week since I last updated… sorry for that. I just went on vacation for the weekend to Gull Lake, in Minnesota. I tried waterskiing for the first time, and on my first time trying it, a got up! Yeah… pretty proud of myself there.**

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 8- Missing**

**-Jason POV-**

My sister. Gone.

It all seemed so surreal for me. I kept on thinking on how Thalia was going to come home, and save me from our mother. I couldn't concept the fact that she wasn't coming home. That she wasn't going to help me with our mother.

It killed me to think of how she was going to go have the time of her life, out in Ireland. She was going to have an escape from reality, which is what she really needed. But she never got there, and now she's never going to come back.

_I can't believe my mother didn't even care…_

I stopped at the stoplight, since it just hit red the second I got there. It was raining, and I kind of felt like it was for Thalia, and all the others who crashed.

A tear went down my face, and I confusedly wiped it away. I _never_ cry.

_I didn't cry when my dad left._

_I didn't cry when my mom beat us._

_I didn't cry when my mom forgot to pick me up from the park._

I didn't cry… and now I did.

The only reason I could think of was how Thals and I were so close. How we were bro and sis, taking on the world.

I heard a honk of a car, throwing me back into reality. I looked up to see that the light was green, and I pushed off the ground, putting my legs back on the bike and cruising back in the streets of New York. It was pretty late, so there wasn't as many cars as usual on the road, which made it easier for me to ride.

I rode to the precinct, where apparently they held the remains. A chill went down my spine at the thought of Thalia being one of them.

_You're big sister… you're idol. Of course you would be upset to see her dead. Anyone with a heart would._

I shrugged it off, trying to keep my mind straight. I mean, the last time I actually cared for someone, they stabbed me in the back. They left me to rot, and I was left with nothing… but my sister.

And now she's gone.

I made my way to the precinct, seeing many other people already there. I knew they were probably families like me, getting the call late at night… I still can't believe that happened to me.

I parked the bike, and hopped off.

_Showtime._

**-Piper POV-**

My best friend. Gone. Just like that.

"_We need you to come identify a body..."_

Those words rang though my mind, etching it into my brain. I felt like I was dreaming, like I was going to wake up and go to work, see Annabeth, banter over something stupid again, and have a coffee with her.

But deep inside of me I knew it wasn't true.

I took time to get myself together in the car, taking some deep breaths, and thinking of what Annabeth would think of me right now. She'd probably give me a small hug, then get back to being the boss, telling me to suck it up, and how people have it worse somewhere else.

She was sisterly, alright.

I knew that she wouldn't like me being so sad about this. I also knew that she hated seeing people sad; she would always tell me that when she saw people being sad, that she would be sad, too. I had a hard time believing that, considering how she would show very little sympathy for me when I was sad.

But in some twisted way, I was glad she didn't show any sympathy.

It made me feel like she actually bothered to get me in the right direction. She knew about my family life, the very same life that I've worked so hard to keep secret.

She knew about it, and she didn't care. She wouldn't let that get to me, and somehow when she would give me that hug, I knew she was silently telling me, "_Don't let them get to you. Prove your parents wrong. You can do this."_

For that very same reason, I loved her. She was my rock, my idol.

I took a deep breath, and smiled at what I knew Annabeth would probably tell me if she were here.

"_Get in there, Piper. Don't worry about anything, I've got it covered."_

I smiled, remembering how many times she had told me that. We'd help each other all the time.

I walked in the crowded precinct; everywhere around me were people crying. Some had tears in their eyes, others had tears streaming down their faces. Others were downright sobbing. I felt alone, like I was invisible, because I wasn't crying. I wasn't sobbing. I wasn't tearing up.

Annabeth wouldn't like that.

I just stood there, not really knowing what to do, when all of the sudden, someone just went and ran into me. I fell forward, expecting to make friends with the floor, but some strong arms caught me.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up to see a blonde-haired god. His eyes were the first thing that caught mine. They were as blue as the sky, immediately making my knees weak just looking at them. He looked like he could be a male model, but the only thing out of place would be the worried expression he wore, and how his eyes seemed to be red, like he had been crying. But then again, weren't we all?

That's when I realized I still hadn't said anything.

"Oh, I'm fine. I guess I should say thank you for catching me before I made friends with the floor," I said, blushing at how stupid I sounded.

"It's nothing. Couldn't let someone like you fall on the floor, now could I?" he asked, leaving me dumbfounded. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He laughed a bit, making me blush red. "I'm Jason."

He held his hand out, a simple and friendly gesture, but the first thing to make me smile since I found out about Annabeth.

"I'm Piper," I announced, shaking his hand. A little spark went up my arm, but I ignored it. But by the look on his face, I knew he felt it too.

He smiled at me, and held onto my hand a second longer than what was needed. _But who was complaining?_

When he let go, his smile faded, and I noticed him take a glance around at all the other people here. "You here because…" his voice trailed off. But I knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah. They want me to identify my friend," I explained, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to contain myself. I opened them to see Jason, who looked like he knew exactly what I was going through. I'm pretty sure he did, too.

"My sister…" he choked up a bit, and took a shaky breath. "My sister was in that plane crash. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, though."

He looked like was holding the world on his shoulders, and I felt uncomfortable. I mean, here I am, for my friend, and I'm the one who seems to be breaking down. He is here for his sister, and yet he seems to have the strength that I could never have.

"I-I'm sorry you had to catch me and all, but I have to get going…" my voice trailed off, and I looked around, and turned to look at him. I saw that he was about to say something, and not wanting to be stopped, I hurried away, looking back to see his confused, and hurt expression.

_Whatever that was, it can wait. I owe Annabeth._

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

What felt like hours later, I found myself in a morgue, full of bodies. There must have been sixty, since there was that many on the plane itself. Apparently, the Coast Guard was able to get all of the bodies that were there, determining how the blast left everyone on board on parts of the plane.

It seemed pretty far-fetched, but based on how many bodies they had, I had a feeling that they were telling the truth.

Someone was helping me, showing me people who looked like her, but they weren't Annabeth. I will admit I threw up a few times, not able to hold the contents in my stomach down after seeing the dead-ness of these people.

"None of them are her," I repeated, sniffling a bit.

The guy who was helping me, looked at me sympathetically. "I'm going to have to take you to a room, then. It helps narrow down who wasn't found and such… if you know what I mean."

_Why isn't she in here? They said I'd have to identify her. I guess the Coast Guard didn't do as good of a job as they thought._

The man ended up bringing me to a room, it was really nice, unlike the circumstances, which I really couldn't get myself to wrap around. It doesn't make any sense. _How could her body not be there?_

I looked around the room, only to be met with quite a few other people's stares. I looked around in shock, taking in how many people were in there. And the shock that I knew one of them.

I mean, I did fall into him earlier.

"You too?" he asked, pursing his lips into a straight line.

_What? No 'How are you?'? What is this?_

I just nodded.

I took a seat next to him, smiling sadly at a couple with a child, who was squirming everywhere. My eyes widened as I noticed who the man was- Charles Beckendorf from _Myths in the Deep_. I never knew he had a wife, though. _Well, his wife was beautiful, that's for sure._

There was another couple with a child, but this time I did recognize the woman, Bianca Garcia from _Ghost Investigators_, and that was probably her husband and child with her.

Besides the famous people, there were two other people in the room with us; one of them was a woman with very, very red hair, wearing footie pajamas and bunny slippers. _That's kind of odd… _seated next to her was an uncomfortable looking guy who had curly hair and a crazy look on his face. I could tell he thought he was funny, but right now he looked pretty down.

_We all were pretty down._

The silence was biting at my bones, and I started to think about what Annabeth would do. That usually gets me out of many situations, probably because whatever Annabeth does is usually bold and daring, which could get extra brownie points and help a lot.

I decided to think like Annabeth. _Someone has to. _

"Since I think we're going to be in here for a while, I think it would be best if we introduce ourselves. I'm Piper McLean."

I thought Jason was going to back me up, but after a few long seconds, he wasn't the one who decided to speak up and cut me some slack. It was Charles Beckendorf, instead.

"I'm Charles Beckendorf."

His wife spoke up. "I'm Selena, his wife, and this is Adam."

Jason finally decided to talk. "I'm Jason Grace." _Smart move, pretty boy._

Bianca smiled at me, but it didn't reach her eyes, as much as I could tell. "I'm Bianca Garcia, and this is Weston and Alex."

The redhead spoke up, "I'm Rachel Dare, nice to meet you." _She sounded kind of dead…_

"And I'm Leo Valdez." The curly brunette said. He gave me a small smile, which didn't reach his eyes… pretty much like all the other ones I've gotten here today.

"Wait… we're all here for the same reason, right?" Selena asked, giving her husband a questioning glance.

"Yeah, we're here for the same reason," Jason explained, his voice sounding a bit dull. I looked at him, and saw a look of loss in his eyes.

_I'm not even Annabeth's real sister. Jason must be feeling a huge loss right now._

I mean, I'm really, really sad about Annabeth. It's like someone just came and stepped all over my heart, my best friend was dead. She taught me everything, and we both watched out for each other in a job that you're used to being stabbed in the back.

I know Jason must be worse than me, it was his own blood. Annabeth and I… we are _like _sisters, basically soul-sisters, but being blood-bound sisters… that's where the line stops.

I need to be strong.

_Someone has to._

My thoughts were cut off when the door slammed open, the sound echoing in the now silent room.

A woman with long brown hair that was French-braided, wearing a business-suit, stepped in, and all of our eyes were on her. _What's she doing here?_

"I am Katie Gardener, I'm so sorry for your loss. But now I need to discuss something with all of you. The bodies of Juniper Busche, Annabeth Chase, Nico Di'Angleo, Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson, and Grover Underwood were never found."

I looked around the room, seeing people sobbing, usually the women, crying, some of the men, and others stone cold. _Which just had to be the blondie next to me._

It would help to have _some _emotion.

I looked back at Katie, who had a conflicted look on her face, and I had a feeling this was the first time she had to do this.

The next words spoken, could have possibly made everyone in the room's heart stop.

_I know it happened to me._

"They are missing, but we have reason to believe that they all are still alive."

**DUNNNN DUNNNNNN DUUUUUUNNNNNNN!**

**They know! OMAHGAH!**

**What do you think about Piper/Jason?**

**~GoGreen52**


	9. Claw Marks

**Chapter 9- Claw Marks**

**-Annabeth POV-**

"You were stuck in _quicksand_?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes I was seaweed brain. Just like Grover told you before, I was stuck in quicksand."

We decided to tell each other what we saw during the time we were searching for logs and stuff to build the make-shift shelter, because if there was something we could use to get off this island… it would be smart to use it.

And Grover just told everyone about my 'near-death' experience with the quicksand.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked, his eyes raking over my body, looking for an injury. I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the warm feeling I got from him being worried about me. _You don't like him, Annabeth. You're just friends._

"Would I be here if I'm not?"

Sarcasm always helps me when I need to avoid things, if you haven't noticed.

"Good point."

After that, there was a long and uncomfortable silence. No one really knew what to say, and I swear I saw Thalia's eye twitch.

Grover decided to fill the silence, and cleared his throat. "We didn't really find anything else after that. I guess all we really found out was the fact that you have to watch where you're going on this island. It's not every day someone comes across quicksand."

Nico, Thalia, and Juniper laughed, followed by Juniper, but I guess Percy and I were the only two who don't find being caught in quicksand so funny. Especially after you think you're going to die, there's really no way to find humor in that.

"Okay guys, that's enough. On with the sharing," I mumbled, feeling like I had no power in this situation.

"Alright, alright," Thalia said, gasping for air from her laughing spree. "Annie here is right. So, basically when Juniper, Nico and I went into the forest, we really just found what we were looking for. I mean, I didn't find anything weird going on. We just got the logs and branches, and left. I mean, we _were _leaving, until we heard Grover."

Nico laughed, a faraway look in his eyes. "Yeah, the whole forest could probably hear Grover with how loud he was being. I mean, he was falling over everything, and mumbling to himself at the same time. I honestly thought he was clinically insane."

"Until we found out the reason," Juniper explained, giving Grover an apologetic look.

"Yeah, so we ran into Grover who was trying to find a vine, but we didn't get to him in time until he was actually pulling her out of there… well, pulling her out doesn't mean getting sucked in, so I'm not really sure how to describe it…" Thalia said, smiling at Grover. "Then, I guess once we actually _got _there, we helped him pull her out."

I blushed again, and looked down at the ground, using my hair to cover my face. I normally don't blush that much, but then again- I usually don't get stuck in quicksand that much either.

Thalia, sensing me feeling uncomfortable with the situation, spoke up. "So… Percy, did you find anything weird on your so-great adventure today?"

Percy, who was looking at me intensely, looked at Thalia, cracking his wide smile. "Well, Thalia, since you asked me so nicely, I actually did find something pretty odd in the woods today…"

"Then what was it?" Thalia asked, leaning in. "You know we _all _want to know."

"Okay, okay. Just so you know, _Thalia_, when I was out in the woods, I was just walking, like any normal person in this world, and I rested my hand on a tree. But the weird thing about this was the fact that when I pulled back, my hand was covered in something sticky. I mean, after getting past the thought that I was going to die, I realized it was tree sap."

"Tree sap?" Juniper asked, more to herself than anyone else.

"Yeah, tree sap. I know it was pretty weird, especially when I looked on the tree, and there was nothing really able to emit that much sap on the spot… but when I looked up, I saw these slash marks on the tree. I guess they were deep enough to let a lot of sap seep down the tree."

Everyone looked at Percy curiously. But before I could, Thalia was the one to speak up, not surprisingly. "I say Percy takes Juniper and I to the tree, to take a look. I'm curious, and Juniper's the expert on trees. Grover, Nico, and Annabeth can go looking for whatever you think could help us by this point."

_Why does_ she_ get to go with Percy?_

Much against my liking, everyone agreed with Thalia, and they started to talk about sleeping arrangements. I wasn't really listening, though. I just couldn't believe that I was letting this emotional turmoil get to me like this. I mean, I've worked so hard to just forgive and forget my whole life… and now, I can't forget this one guy.

Must be the island.

_Sure, just hide the fact that you're actually falling for the guy._

Oh, shut up.

_You're just hiding from the truth, hun._

And what's that supposed to mean?

_You know._

"Annabeth, are you okay?"

I was brought back to reality by Percy, who was looking at me worriedly.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Well, I called you're names about three times before you actually answered. Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes searching for anything wrong with me.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I guess I just get lost in my thoughts sometimes," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

"It's okay, Wise Girl." He grinned.

I smiled, turning to face towards the kindled fire. From what I know, we were going to take shifts of staying awake, just in case we all need to be woken up about something. Plus, we need someone to keep the fire going.

"I can stay up first," Nico said, but I could see dark shadows under his eyes. The boy needed his sleep.

"No, I will. I'm pretty good at it, you know?" Percy spoke, joking around.

I noticed how the others didn't volunteer, but I knew it was probably because of how tired they were. I mean, I was the one who ordered them around all day. They must be exhausted.

"You know what? I can take first watch. Percy, you already stayed up all night before, and you barely got enough sleep to get by. And Nico, you just look dead on your feet. So, I think I'll just take first watch and wake someone else up when I get tired," I announced, taking charge of the situation.

I saw Percy about to speak up, probably against what I was going for, so I cut him off. "Yes Percy, I can keep watch for a little while, all right?"

He pouted a little, but suddenly just bounced back to his regular state, talking with the others about what we were going to do tomorrow. I just hope tomorrow comes.

An hour later, I think, everyone but me was asleep. I just watched the fire, thinking about my feelings for Percy. I remembered Luke, and how he was so kind to me at the beginning. Then… he just got so violent, throwing things everywhere, yelling so loud that the neighbors would file complaints.

But Percy… Percy was different.

He just seemed so… so pure. He was a nice guy, that's for sure. But at the same time, he seemed to be keeping back so much, like he was just carrying around this extra baggage with him everywhere. _Kind of like me._

Before I knew it, I could see the sun come up. It was beautiful, really. I smiled as I remembered how my mother would always wake me up the see the sun rising, not the sun falling. She thought that the sunset wasn't as beautiful as the sunrise.

I agreed with her.

But then I remembered how the others would probably be mad at me when they figured out I didn't wake them up, and I started thinking about what they might be thinking of me. _The mean girl who thinks she's better than everyone else? The girl who doesn't trust anyone enough to let them keep watch?_

Those two titles would _not _do me any good in the future.

**-Percy POV-**

I woke up to the sun hitting my face.

Opening my eyes, I thought that I would be back in my flat in New York, and that maybe I just forgot to close the window or something. I mean, it's happened before.

But when I opened my eyes, I was hit with a dose of reality. I was definitely not in New York anymore. I remembered how the plane had crashed, and how we were actually stuck on this island.

For some reason, I kept on thinking that I was actually just dreaming, making up the fact that I met Thalia, Juniper, Nico, Grover, and of course, Annabeth. For some reason… I just couldn't take my mind off of her.

I looked around, my mind wandering to the conversation last night. Who did Annabeth wake up? She was the only one of us missing?

_She didn't wake any of us up._

I sighed, and stood up, trying to not make too much noise, other than the cracking of my joints as they strained to move. I was tired and sore, but I was sure some of the others had it way worse here.

Walking on forward, trying to look for Annabeth, ended up being pretty easy. I mean, she was actually just right at the beach, looking out at the sun that was well passed over the water by now. I guess she was just lost in thought again.

"What's up?"

She turned around, looking at me with shock. I guess she just didn't hear me.

"Just lost in thought… again. And, you know, just trying to figure out how to get off of this place."

I nodded, understanding. That was pretty much on all of our minds lately. "I think the same thing goes for all of us. And may I ask why you didn't wake any of us up? You could've gotten some sleep, you know."

"But I think you know exactly why I didn't wake anyone up, Percy. When you get lost in your thoughts, it's pretty hard to stop thinking."

I shrugged, knowing I wasn't going to get anywhere with her. Obviously, like me, she was too busy thinking to go to sleep. I would be lying if I said I didn't know what she meant, and I really couldn't accuse her of anything, because that would make me a hypocrite.

We just stood there, watching the ocean. I saw a few fish jump in the distance, and I smiled in remembrance at what Beckendorf would do if he saw the fish jump. To be honest, every time he saw a fish jump, he'd scratch his head, tap his foot, and smile a little, before turning back into something serious.

_It was probably just a nervous habit._

I let my thoughts roam in the quietness between me and Annabeth. We were just waiting for the others to wake up, and we both just didn't know what to talk about. Getting off this island? Well, we don't even know where fresh water is.

_Fresh water…_

"Hey Annabeth," I spoke, getting her attention.

"Yeah Seaweed Brain?"

"I was just thinking, you know, of how we don't have any fresh water," I explained. "And that you were going to go looking for something… whatever that something is, I think you should go looking for some fresh water."

Annabeth got that thoughtful expression on her face, as if she were computing everything at once, five times over. And then she smiled.

"I think finding fresh water would definitely help us… smart move, seaweed brain."

For the rest of the time we were waiting for the others, we chatted about finding water and that stuff. I told her some signs that water would be close, like the thickening of green, or even the complete opposite.

About thirty minutes later, everyone was awake and ready to go. Annabeth had an uneasy vibe around her, and she kept on throwing weird glances at Thalia. The one time I caught her eye, I threw her a questioning look, but she shrugged it off, getting into a deep conversation with Grover about what we had been discussing, with the fresh water and all of that.

"Percy, you ready to go?"

I turned around to smile at Thalia, who was smiling whole-heartedly at me. I could tell she was really excited to see Juniper and I at work… I had a feeling she didn't really think of herself that important here. I mean, she _is _only a rights speaker.

"Let's go."

We grabbed Juniper, said our goodbyes to the others, and we walked off to find the tree. I knew there was a reason why I had marked the tree, so I'm pretty proud of myself for that.

We came on to the tree, and Juniper gasped, looking up at the scratches. Thalia looked at them wide-eyed. I had a feeling they didn't think them to be as big as they were.

"Oh my god," Juniper whispered, her hands coming to her mouth.

"Percy, this is _not _how you described them to be," Thalia said, still looking at them in wonder.

I shrugged at her, crossing my arms at Juniper's expression. She seemed to be a little worried about something, and it was starting to make me agitated. When a tree expert is worried while looking at a tree… what is that supposed to mean?

"Juniper? What is it?" I asked, taking in her odd expression. Thalia seemed to notice she wasn't the only one looking at them in wonder, either.

"The tree… it's very, very bad, Percy. This is _not _good."

Thalia looked at her, obviously confused. "What do you mean, Juniper? How is this bad?"

"They're claw marks," she whispered. "I've only seen these in smaller scales before. This… this is bigger than anything I've ever seen."

"I told you it was big," I mumbled, even though I was pretty creped out from the whole 'claw marks' thing.

"Yeah Percy, you told us it was big, but it could have been easier for us to understand if you would've given us the whole situation!" Thalia exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and facing me.

"Not my fault you can't comprehend what other people tell you!"

"It's your fault that we were unaware of what was actually in this forest!"

"Will you two just _shut up_!"

Thalia and I turned to look at Juniper, who was looking like she just discovered the world was going to end… which by itself made me shut up.

"What's going on, Juniper?" I asked.

"These claw marks… they came from something big…. There's something on this island with us, you two. And I have a feeling from this marks… it probably wouldn't want us here."

I didn't have enough time to let that soak in before I heard probably the worst sound in the history of the world.

_Annabeth's scream._

**Dun Dunn Dunnnn!**

**I went camping this past week… there was no WIFI so I had to deal with just writing in my notebooks. Which sucked, making the fact that I prefer typing very known to my family.**

**~GoGreen52**


	10. Attacked

**Hey, I'm getting better at this! You know, updating on good time. Well, thanks reviewers, and it means a lot to me even if you write one word… and I'm pretty much telling the truth, here.**

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 10- Attacked**

**-Annabeth POV-**

I don't know what happened to me.

Usually, I can think first. I usually think through everything I'm going to do. But in this case, I didn't think at all.

That feeling I got when I was next to him, next to Percy… it felt like I was on Cloud 9. When I'm with him I don't think before saying something, I'm never on guard anymore; let's just say this is very scary for me.

I've never really given much thought to starting a relationship after what happened with Luke. After what he did to me, I never thought I would be able to trust a man again. I'm just glad I was able to have Piper, who has helped me through it all.

I took a deep breath and changed my thoughts. I needed to be spot on here. I mean, if we don't find any fresh water… that would be really bad.

Looking around, I saw Grover and Nico looking around at all of the 'openings' in the forest for us to go through. I knew since we didn't have a cleaver, we would probably get some bad scratches, so I got a jug of sea water to clean the cuts in case they start to get worse than they should be.

"Okay guys, you ready?" I asked, looking between the two of them.

Grover spoke, "Yeah. Whenever you are, Miss Chase."

Nico just nodded, which was weird because he likes to make unusual comments all the time. That's when I noticed a faraway look in his eye. I could tell something was going on in 'Nico world', but of course I didn't know what it was. There was something about him that just gave me a weird feeling. His facial expression… It was like he was missing something. It was like something was going to go wrong.

"Nico?" I asked, as Grover started forward before us.

He looked at me, raising his eyebrows in what could have been shock. "Yeah?"

"I can tell something's bothering you," I admitted. "You know, it helps to talk about those kinds of things."

He just shrugged, giving me a small smile. "I think we all have things on our minds, Annabeth. It's just a matter of whether we are open about them to the world that people know it's on our mind."

I stopped to consider what he just said, but he just kept on going forward ahead of me. I sighed, knowing I would never be able to crack him, and slowly followed the two into the forest.

"Annabeth, you coming?" Grover asked, way ahead of me by now.

"Yeah," I said, not as loud as I probably should have said it, but since Grover turned back around to focus on where he was going, I guess it was loud enough.

After a few minutes, I was right up there with the guys, who were now looking around aimlessly for things. I could tell they didn't know what to look for, even though I had a feeling Grover did, but Nico for sure didn't.

Finally, Nico stopped and asked, "Um… Annabeth? What exactly are we supposed to look for?"

I laughed softly, and replied, "Percy said we were supposed to look for either the thickening of the trees and bushes, or the thinning out of them."

Grover nodded. "Another sign of water is large hills. But you would want to be careful just in case the hill isn't really a hill… rather, a cliff into the ocean. And in my experience, we would probably not be able to survive falling from the cliff since we don't know what we're doing."

Nico and I looked at him shocked, our eyes wide. "Good to know," I mumbled.

We continued on into the forest, now knowing what to look for. Nico and Grover slipped into a conversation about what they thought the marks on the tree were from. I mean, we really don't know what they look like, so for all we know, they could be from a sloth gnawing on the tree.

After getting bored with all of their ridiculous guesses, I slipped into my thoughts. And there was one thing I was sure of- Percy Jackson one way or another would be the death of me.

I know, it might sound melodramatic, but it's true. He's really the only guy on this planet that I had let get past my wall, and the fact that his happened without me being able to see it was a definite problem on my side.

It took me a year to build that wall. And it took a day for Percy Jackson to break it down.

Unfortunately, he didn't know it.

My guess is he didn't feel the same way. That little tingle I get when we touch… I don't think he ever felt it before. I mean, he's been paying attention to Thalia a lot lately, and that just seems to me like he would rather like her than me. Besides, who would I be to get in between that?

_I'd never come between Percy and Thalia, even if it kills me._

I would never be able to live with it if I stole him from Thalia, who is turning out to be my really good friend. I could never do that to her… I wouldn't.

"Annabeth! Look!"

I saw the guys, who were looking at the thickening of the trees with bright eyes.

Water was near… and since I couldn't hear a crash of the ocean, it was fresh water.

The only problem was the fact that there were multiple signs of thickening. Some of them could be fakes, where it was just the water overflowing to create that. Obviously there was no overflowing now, or we would be knee deep in water.

"Okay, let's split up and search for the water," I announced, taking charge once again.

They knew better to not defy me, and we started in different directions to search for the water, to make it go faster.

I was a few minutes out when I heard it.

A growl.

Immediately, I stopped, and looked everywhere around me. I waited to hear it again. Facing the direction the growl came from, I took slow, quiet breaths, and prepared myself for what was about to come.

All of the sudden, I heard another growl, and the rustling of the trees. I started to breath faster and faster as the closer the sound got.

I was in fight or flight mode, ready to run from or to attack whatever was coming. The noise kept on getting louder until they stopped.

I remember seeing red eyes.

I remember screaming.

I remember crying for help.

_The rest was all black._

_**-Percy POV—PREVIOUSLY-**_

_Thalia and I turned to look at Juniper, who was looking like she just discovered the world was going to end… which by itself made me shut up._

_"What's going on, Juniper?" I asked._

_"These claw marks… they came from something big…. There's something on this island with us, you two. And I have a feeling from this marks… it probably wouldn't want us here."_

_I didn't have enough time to let that soak in before I heard probably the worst sound in the history of the world._

_Annabeth's scream._

**-Percy POV-CURRENTLY -**

Everyone stopped in their tracks at the sound.

We all looked at each other, and the thought that it may just be my imagination soon vanished as I saw the terrified looks on Thalia and Juniper's faces.

I'm pretty sure mine was a mirror image, too.

"Who was that?" Thalia asked, her voice at a whisper.

I looked at her, my face showing pure pain. My heart had fallen to my stomach, and felt like it was just being shredded slowly.

_Annabeth. She screamed. She's scared, hurt, maybe both…_

"_Help! _Please! _Somebody!_"

I looked at Thalia and Juniper, who were both at a loss for words. They knew it was Annabeth, too. They knew that something went wrong.

After taking one last look at them, I took off sprinting into the forest, alone. I knew the direction that the scream had come from, I didn't care, though. I just needed to find Annabeth. And that was what I was going to do. I ran as fast as I could. I wished she would say something, anything, so I would have her voice to help me find her- or just give me a better clue, as to where to look for her. But she stayed silent, and that scared the crap out of me. There was a reason why she had screamed, and now that she was silent…the worst images found their way into my head, and my feet started to run faster, than I had ever run in my entire life.

I will admit, I was scared. I was _scared_. I was scared what would happen if I found her too late.

_Please don't let me be too late._

I kept on running, running at probably what would be considered world record pace. I wasn't going to stop until I found her… I _couldn't _stop until I found her.

My brain went into auto pilot mode. I felt like I was watching a movie as I dodged branches, jumped over roots and fallen logs, avoiding things like quicksand and rocks that were probably not supposed to be there.

I hurdled and jumped for what felt like eternity, all the while, I felt that gut wrenching feeling. After this, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to leave Annabeth out of my sight ever again.

"Percy! Thalia! Juniper! We need help!"

"Help us!"

I stopped running in shock. Who was that?

I thought again at who Annabeth went with to look for the water- Nico and Grover.

_It must be them, then._

Quickly, I ran over to where the voices were coming from, and pushed past a thick group of weeds and bushes to spot the orange shirt Grover wore. Nico was wearing black, hence why I couldn't spot him, but what really caught my attention was the trail of red leading to what they were leaning over.

As I got even closer, I saw what, or in this case who, they were leaning over.

Annabeth.

I sprinted over to them, and slid to a stop on my knees next to the fallen Annabeth. The sight in front of me made me want to throw up.

Annabeth was unconscious, of course, but I have a feeling it wasn't from the fall, it was probably from the extent of the injuries. She had three deep gashes on her body. One was across her forehead, not as deep as the others, but still very deep- too deep to be just from a branch that was in her way.

The second one was on her chest. It was pretty deep, and it was bleeding a lot. It was almost identical to the one on her forehead, besides the fact that it was deeper.

The last one was on her abdomen, right below her ribcage. This one was the deepest of them all, making her look like she was just in surgery, having it really cut open. Blood was pooling on her stomach, and something told me she hadn't breathed in a while… or at least breathed deep enough to mover her stomach.

On instinct I felt for a pulse, putting my fingers on her neck. I felt a pulse, but it was very faint. I was scared enough when I felt for her pulse, but I was terrified when I pulled my hand back, and looked at the blood that was now there.

_Annabeth's blood._

I took off my shirt, wadding it up and putting it over the wound below her ribcage.

Just now I took notice to the other two men who were kneeling by me, looking at Annabeth in shock. "Are you going to help or not?" I asked, my voice sounding slightly strangled.

They snapped out of it and took their shirts off, putting each one on a wound. I took a hand off of the shirt; the shirt that was already starting to turn red itself, and started to pat her face a bit.

I was no doctor, but I knew it was bad for someone to be unconscious. "Annabeth, wake up," I mumbled, patting the side of her face a little more.

"Come on Annabeth, don't give up on us," I pleaded, my voice strangled.

Something told me she wasn't going to wake up any time soon… but I had to keep trying.

"Annabeth, _please!_"

Still nothing.

"Percy, the wound! It's bleeding through!"

I looked at Nico, the one who was pointing at where my hand was pushing down on her body.

I saw for myself the blood seeping through my shirt, and I took it off of her, using both of my hands as a force instead.

"Percy, switch spots with me," Grover said, more of a demand. I saw that there was practically nothing coming from her head, no blood at all, and I nodded.

We quickly switched places, and I sat on the ground, and moved so her head was being cradled in my lap.

I didn't use my hands to put pressure on her head, because there was no blood coming from there. Must not have been that deep of a cut.

Instead, I found myself tracing her lips, and her cheekbones. My hand was shaking, and it was tracing her face like it was almost caressing it.

That's when I found myself starting to tear up.

"Come on Wise Girl, stay with us," I whispered.

I kept on whispering helpful words in her ear, begging her to wake up. I don't know what I would do to see those stormy grey eyes again, but I do know that I would do close to anything.

"Oh my God!"

My attention was taken away from Juniper and Thalia, who saw Annabeth for the first time. Juniper was the one who must've spoken, her eyes already watering and a hand at her mouth in shock. And Thalia, well… she looked paler than Annabeth.

"We need to move her," I said, my voice strong over everyone else's.

"The bleeding isn't as powerful as it was before. This would be a good time to start moving her," Grover agreed.

I started to pull her into my arms, just before I heard a sob come from behind me.

"Juniper, it's going to be alright," Thalia said, though as it was rehearsed. She didn't believe it either.

Juniper just kept on sobbing, and Thalia tried to comfort her. The last thing we needed was exactly that- someone to go in hysterics.

But to be honest, I was surprised I hadn't started sobbing, yet. I had a few tears flowing, but I was in control of myself… for the most part.

"Juniper, you have to stop. We need to get going," Thalia told her, on the same page as me.

"No… it's not that," Juniper spoke, her voice shaky. "I've _seen_ those marks before!"

Everyone looked at her in pure shock, but I just turned away to take a look at Annabeth. I knew something was wrong.

But then again- I've seen these marks before too.

Think about it- three slashes, like claw marks.

_The tree… Annabeth…_

_The sap... the blood…_

"These are identical to the claw marks on the tree!" Juniper exclaimed, falling into sobs once again.

I closed my eyes, trying to hold myself together.

_There's something here. Something big. And it mauled Annabeth…_

We're in for a lot of trouble.

**Hope you guys liked it!**

**~GoGreen52**


	11. Missing Piece

**I'm just having fun eating tacos.**

**~GoGreen52**

**-Chapter 11- Missing Piece**

_**Previously with the families:**_

_I looked back at Katie, who had a conflicted look on her face, and I had a feeling this was the first time she had to do this._

_The next words spoken, could have possibly made everyone in the room's heart stop._

_I know it happened to me._

"_They are missing, but we have reason to believe that they all are still alive."_

**-Piper POV-**

I kind of feel bad for Katie right now.

I mean, how could she have known that telling us words that were supposed to brighten us up, actually started a rampage? It's not really her fault, if you think about it.

"What do you mean, they're still alive!" Jason yelled, not really using it as a question._ Well that's rude._

Katie's eyes widened, and she struggled to speak. "I-I… um…"

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Bianca asked, shaking her head, her eyes watering. I noticed her husband try to comfort her, whispering in her ear. "How could you lie to us like this?"

I looked over at Katie, whose face was turning red, probably from just being nervous, embarrassed, and probably even shocked. Then I looked at everyone else in the room, and saw that they were seething with anger like Jason and Bianca.

_Well, I think I'm the only sane one in here._

"Is that what you're paid for? To waltz around and ruin the lives of other people?" Leo asked. His face was masked in a frown; something I could tell was not made for his face.

I looked down at the ground and closed my eyes, trying to make the yelling go away. I've read somewhere that people who grieve often turn to anger as an outlet. I've never seen people do this, though.

"Why would you tell us that they could still be alive after we know they died?" Jason asked, his voice lowered down a notch. It was still a lot of notches above talking, that's for sure.

I don't like it when people yell at other people… without a valid excuse. And I'm pretty sure they don't have a valid excuse to yell and Katie right now. Ever heard of the phrase, _don't shoot the messenger_? It's plenty obvious that these people haven't.

My head was down for probably a few minutes of constant yelling and blaming. To be honest, I'm not even sure _why_ they were complaining. They just found out that the people they were grieving over could possibly be alive!

_Why make such a fuss?_

I looked up once more, only to look at Katie. I felt all of the feelings I've been holding inside of me boil over when I saw the look on her face. Her eyes were watering, and her mouth drawn in a tight line. All the while her face was completely flushed. She was just taking it, obviously knowing that these people were only grieving.

I decided to do something about it.

"Will everyone just _shut up_?"

My voice echoed in the small room, and everyone, including Katie, turned to look at me. Most of them looked grief stricken, and others just looked angry.

"What do you want, girl?" Bianca asked, her voice sounding like a growl. "I just lost my brother. Don't you _dare_ tell me to _shut up_."

She glared at me, her eyes ice cold. I couldn't help but shiver at the sight of them, but I shook it off. "We all lost someone, Bianca. I hope you understand that, because we're all in the same boat, here." I paused, and since no one moved to say anything, I continued.

"All you're doing here by yelling at her is shooting the messenger. All she did was give us some facts, and what did you all do? You yelled at her, blaming her for something you don't even know the story behind." I took a deep breath, soaking in all of the looks directed at me. "Look, I know we all lost someone today, because I did too. And I can bet all my money that they wouldn't want us arguing over them, dead or alive."

"And do you know the back story to all of this?" Rachel asked. I shook my head no, and looked at the ground. "Then how can you be sure that they're actually alive, huh? All you're doing is digging an even bigger hole, here."

I felt a tear fall down my cheek, and I furrowed my eyebrows. "I'm out of here," I mumbled.

I stood up, ignoring Jason calling my name, and ignoring the look of gratitude on Katie's face as I left the room, and ran through the halls to get to the exit. _I needed to get out of here._

"Piper! Wait up!"

I didn't even bother to turn around. I couldn't face Jason, not now… I need to be alone. Is it bad to just need to be alone once in a while?

I jogged out of the precinct, fighting tears all the way down the stairs and to my car. I continued to jog to the car, but this time I started to cry. Reaching in my purse, I fumbled with the keys and unlocked the car, before sliding right into it.

By the time I started the ignition, I was sobbing. Just down-right sobbing.

I put my hands on the wheel, clenching it as if it were my life-line. My knuckles turned white, and I just tried to brace myself. To be there for myself.

It's weird… I can't call Annabeth to talk through things like this. I can't cry with her over something stupid, and our annual Chinese take-out Tuesdays are going to never happen again.

_I really could use Annabeth right now._

The thought echoed throughout my brain as I dried my tears, and drove off to my apartment. All the while I was just learning how to except the fact that my life wasn't going to be same ever again.

**-Jason POV-**

I tried chasing her, I tried to stop her.

_I really did._

As soon as Piper broke through the doors, I knew I had lost her. In more ways than one, obviously. I mean, I'd be lucky if I would ever be able to see her again. Let alone speak to her.

Standing there, looking out into the busy streets of New York, I started to let go. I finally let go from everything that has been eating up at me all of the years. Bad relationships… my mother, who could care less about her children. Need I say more?

All I could care about now was the girl who ran into me earlier today. The same girl that stood up for someone, against all odds… and the girl who had ran away, somehow still being able to catch my full focus.

She reminds me of Thalia; how she spoke her mind, not caring about what anyone else thought.

I swore to myself that if I ever saw her again, I would make things right between us. There was something about Piper that made me curious, that sparked my interest. I barely knew anything about her, but I have every intention to learn more.

"She left?"

I turned around to see everyone who was previously in the room. "Yeah," I said. "Ran right out of here."

They all looked apologetic, and Katie walked up and gave me a hug. I caught a glimpse of what I think was a ring on her ring finger, and I heard her whisper in my ear, "Don't let her go."

My eyes widened as she pulled away from me. She kept her hands on my shoulders, giving me a knowing look. It was as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. Really, it was if she knew what I was feeling, as if she had been there before.

And with her career choice, I have a feeling that I was right.

I nodded at her, and with a wink she walked away, probably to go do something that has to do with locating the supposed survivors. To be honest, I don't really think that there's a way that these people survived.

The others started to file out, and I stood by the door just thinking to myself on how I could help the cause. I mean, when your sister's supposedly still alive, wouldn't you want to help out? I know I do… even if I don't think they're alive at all, the least I could do is help.

"Hey, Jason!"

I turned around to see Charles Beckendorf with his family, giving me a knowing look. I looked at him questionably. "What?"

He laughed a little. "I have a good feeling about this, and I know you want to help." My eyes widened, causing Charles to laugh even more. "Look, if you need any help with anything in my expertise, give me a call."

He handed me a business card and threw a small smile at me before leaving, carrying his sleeping son and his wife wrapping her arms around him, looking like a tight-knit family. A smile grew on my face as I looked down at the card.

_I had a feeling I was going to use this._

I walked out of the precinct, and got to my bike. I hopped on, and went the long way home. I hoped my mother wasn't there when I got back. I just wanted to sleep… _yeah, sleep sounds good to me right now_.

God knows what my mother has been doing with the past few hours. Maybe she stopped by Thalia's apartment, stole a few things. Or maybe she stopped back at my apartment, stole a few things. Well, all I can tell you that if she actually did that to me, she would never hear from me again.

_Ever._

But knowing my mother, she wouldn't care. She's like a honey badger. She don't care about anything.

_Yep. She's fearless and stupid. Explains her perfectly._

I started to miss Thalia even more. She would always know what to do with our mother, whether it was paying some hobo to get cleaned up and take her out on a date, or if it was just locking her out- Thalia was the complete mastermind to it all.

Having no more tears to cry, I rode in silence, thinking of my sister. I'm not the most sentimental person in the world, but she's my sister, and I love her.

I mean, all the times we've been with each other, all the times it's been Thalia and Jason against the world… like the time I ate that stapler, and how she would never let me forget it. I should have a valid excuse, here, too! I was two, with a mother who was never there to watch me. I guess she thought that a seven year old Thalia was a great babysitter.

It wasn't my fault I was hungry and I decided a stapler was a good source of iron, right?

_Right._

I smiled, remembering when Thals and I went to the top of the Empire State Building for the first time. I was right at the edge, looking out through the glass at Manhattan, while Thalia was trembling in the middle most place she could get, sitting down and closing her eyes.

That was when I discovered for the first time how scared Thalia really was of heights.

I remember all the rallies she dragged me to, forcing me to yell right with her. Sometimes it was really awkward, being one of the few men there when it's a woman's rights protest. I mean, seriously, after a while it gets annoying when women start to put their numbers in your pockets for you.

I might be a guy, but I need my personal space, too.

I pulled in to my apartment parking area, and parked the bike, taking the keys and walked to my apartment.

To my happiness, my mother wasn't there, so I threw my helmet and keys on the couch, threw my shoes off, and when I got to my room, I practically collapsed on my bed. I fell asleep right when I hit the pillow.

**-Piper POV-**

After a long night of little to no sleep… I didn't know what to do. I mean, I wasn't going to go to work. I was given a few weeks off to grieve over the loss of my partner. The current client we have happened to be very considerate of the current state that Annabeth and I are both in.

If you know what I mean.

What was I supposed to do? _Cry on the couch all day? _No… I know I can't do that, not when I know that Annabeth could possibly be alive. Scratch that- after knowing that all of them could be alive. How could they expect me to just stand back and wait on the sidelines?

In case you haven't noticed, sidelines aren't really my thing.

Walking to my kitchen like a zombie, I decided to think more about this over a nice bowl of Cheerios. No need to starve when there's work to be done.

I grabbed a bowl, some Honey Nut Cheerios, and some milk. I like to pour the milk in first, though. Everyone thinks it's weird, but I really don't see what the problem is with it. I mean, sure it will splash, but it makes my morning breakfast more eventful.

I gulped it down, not really thinking about what I should be doing.

I mean, I'm just Piper McLean. How should I know how to find where Annabeth is?

After putting the mess away, I started to pace. I knew there was something wrong, though. There was something going on that I couldn't figure out. I knew there was this piece that didn't add up. I don't know what it is, but I do know there is definitely a piece that is missing from the puzzle.

All of the sudden there was a knock on the door, making me jump. I shook my head, and looked at the clock, which read 7:53 a.m.

_Who would be coming by at this hour?_

I walked to the door, a fearfully opened it. My eyes widened at who it was. Well, I knew I was going to see him again, but certainly not at this hour. I was probably expecting at like 11, but I guess from his excited complexion, he probably figured out that missing piece.

I was face to face with Jason Grace.

**What's the missing piece?**

**Will they find the others?**

**Will I ever stop asking questions?**

**~a very confused GoGreen52**


	12. At Fault

**Long waits suck, don't they? Well, I've been in the middle of a killer writer's block, and it took me awhile to get the guts to get back to the computer to write. I hope you enjoy **

**~GoGreen52**

**Chapter 12- At Fault**

_**Previously:**_

_No… it's not that," Juniper spoke, her voice shaky. "I've seen those marks before!"_

_Everyone looked at her in pure shock, but I just turned away to take a look at Annabeth. I knew something was wrong._

_But then again- I've seen these marks before too._

_Think about it- three slashes, like claw marks._

_The tree… Annabeth…_

_The sap... the blood…_

_"These are identical to the claw marks on the tree!" Juniper exclaimed, falling into sobs once again._

_I closed my eyes, trying to hold myself together._

_There's something here. Something big. And it mauled Annabeth…_

_We're in for a lot of trouble._

**-Percy POV-**

It was like I was watching a television screen as I watched myself move, almost robot-like, to get Annabeth secure enough to move.

I know everyone was terrified out of their wits, scared that whatever clawed Annabeth was going to come back for seconds. Her head and chest wound stopped bleeding, but her abdominal wound was still gushing out the blood.

I was cradling her head, while Nico, who has dealt with bad injuries before, checked to make sure she was stable enough to move. I was running my fingers through her hair, as a calming gesture, but in this case it wasn't for Annabeth- it was for me.

I barely noticed Thalia helping Nico, I barely noticed Grover comforting Juniper, but I noticed how her blood was dripping from her body and onto the cold forest floor.

It was like the world around me was in slow motion and grey. The world around me was cold.

"We can move her, Percy."

As soon as I heard those words, it took me milliseconds to have her in my arms, and to be standing up.

I spoke, "We got to get her to the beach. We also need something to lay her on so the wounds won't get dirty… I'll have to come back here to get some fresh water to clean her wounds… but for right now, we're all going back."

Everyone nodded, and we took off to get to the beach. Nico was walking backwards, facing Annabeth so he could continue to keep pressure, while Grover was walking with a calmer Juniper, discussing the claw marks, debating on what could have made them.

Thalia was walking in front of Nico, making sure nothing was in his way so he wouldn't trip. They had a good system going, but my only concern was Annabeth.

"We're coming onto the beach. Grover and Juniper can you get something set down so she isn't laying on the sand?" Thalia asked.

Immediately Grover and Juniper started gathering leaves, all the while still keeping pace with us. By the time we got to the beach, I hurried Annabeth over to the make-shift shack we had made, and waited while Grover and Juniper laid the leaves down to make a little place for Annabeth to be.

I put her down onto the leaves, and Grover and Juniper walked out of there, letting Thalia and Nico have space to help her.

She was unconscious the whole time Nico and Thalia worked on her, but I whispered in her ear anyways, telling her that everything was going to be fine, and that she was going to be okay.

A few minutes later, the bleeding stopped. I was worried that she had lost too much blood, but Nico and Thalia reassured me that she didn't lose as much, to the point where we should be worried. Now all we have to do is wait, and hope she wakes up.

_She better wake up._

Thalia ended up shooing us out of there, telling us she was going to clean Annabeth up. I mean, no one wants to wake up and be covered in blood. Nico walked out, claiming that he didn't feel like becoming a peeping tom.

I honestly wanted to stay with Annabeth, just in case she woke up… not to be a peeping tom. My mother raised me right, for your information.

But all in all, it only took Thalia's glare to get me out of there.

I took my shirt, along with the other guy's, and hopped right on out of that place.

I will admit that Thalia scares me, only because if you were the target of one of her glares, you would probably pee your pants. Besides, I knew that she would take care of Annabeth; I understand that Thalia would alarm us if something went wrong.

I met up with the others, Juniper and Grover who were cutting up what I think was some fruit that they had found, and Nico, who was standing there, looking like he was out of place.

"Here," I said, passing the two their shirts. Nico caught his expertly, but Grover struggled to get a hand on it and it went over his head, causing Juniper to giggle a bit. I could tell she was feeling better, but I could also tell she was still pretty worried.

_We all were._

I sighed, walking to the ocean to clean off my shirt… and well, me. I was still pretty bloody from Annabeth, not having washed myself off before.

I dipped my shirt in the water, trying to get most of the blood out of the cotton t-shirt that had just been used to stop Annabeth's bleeding…

I had to take a deep breath to calm myself and to direct those thoughts away. _She's going to be okay, just relax._

How did I really know that she was going to be okay? I mean, I've seen how badly she's been hurt. I've seen what happened to her, and of course with having seeing other accounts of people badly injured, just from my job, I know that with what had happened, sometimes… people don't make it.

Just the thought of that gave me a migraine.

I was not going to give up on Annabeth, or anyone else, any time soon. It's against any instinct of mine to ever give up on someone. _Ever._

And I was _not_ about to give up on Annabeth and let her die.

Nico came up next to me, washing his shirt as well. "Percy you alright, man?"

I took my shirt out of the water and wrung it with my hands. "I'm as okay as you get after just seeing something like that," I spoke. My voice was slightly shaky, recalling the memory that had not come off my mind since it happened.

Nico looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed. "But there's something more, right?"

I looked at him, shocked. How did he come up with that conclusion in the first place? "I don't know what you're talking about, Nico."

My voice was final, and from the expression he wore, I could tell he knew it too.

For a while we stood there knee deep in the ocean, wringing out our shirts to rid them of the blood. We must've been there for a while, because when I looked up I saw that the sun had moved quite a bit as to what I had seen last time.

I knew that standing there, remembering what had happened to Annabeth wasn't going to help us in any way at all. If anything, we should all be more dead-set on getting off this island after what happened to her so we can make sure she gets proper medical attention.

She needs that, and we all know it… we all are learning that the more we hold off and deny the fact that we are going to have to find a way off ourselves, the worse off we are going to be. I mean seriously- there's a monster out there, that doesn't want us here.

I have a really bad feeling about this.

Time to be a leader.

"Nico, we have to go find fresh water," I said, causing him to look at me questionably. "If we want to survive, we are going to need to find that fresh water. And from what I understand, you guys were pretty close to some water when she was attacked?"

Nico took his shirt out of the water and flung it on his shoulder. "Yeah, that's what got us to split up in the first place."

"Get Grover… we are going to go get some fresh water."

Nico nodded, and we both went back to the beach. Nico went straight for Grover, who was still helping Juniper prepare the fruit that they had picked, and I went straight for the shack, where I'm sure Thalia must be done by now.

"Hey Thalia, you done yet?"

The leaves surrounding the shack opened up, and out popped Thalia. "Of course Percy. I'm no slowpoke."

I ignored her, and crouched to get in, and slid over to where a much cleaner Annabeth was laying. Because of all the blood being gone, you could see how pale she really was. It made me even more worried, seeing how her skin wasn't the usual tan, but how it was as white as a sheet.

I noted how Thalia tried to bandage her up, wrapping some pieces of cotton around her head. I'm sure that under her shirt there were more wrapped around her other wounds.

Thalia cleaned Annabeth's shirt and replaced it with her own, drawing attention to Thalia's tank top underneath. I saw that the shirt was cut at the bottom to fit Annnabeth, and also some extra cuts on Thalia the shirt Thalia was wearing.

I knew Thalia was smart, but she did a good job.

"Thank you," I breathed, brushing my hand through Annabeth's hair. She was still unconscious, but now it was evident that her chest was moving up and down, almost as if she were in a deep sleep.

"No problem. Besides, she's my friend too, Percy." Thalia threw a small smile at me and winked.

I glared at her, annoyed at what she was silently implying. "I don't like Annabeth like that, Thalia."

"_Sure_ you don't. With those cute little nicknames, how she was jealous of me flirting with you last night and the fact that you had a mental breakdown when she was attacked… I _so_ believe that you don't have any feelings for her."

"Thalia, please. Annabeth's just a good friend that a care about okay? I think anyone would have a mental break down seeing their friend like that."

"Then why didn't I have a mental breakdown?"

"How don't I know that you had one in here just now after I left? I mean, who could have seen you. I bet you were hyperventilating, too."

Thalia threw me a hard glare. "You know what you and Egypt have in common? _De-Nile_. Of course someone like you couldn't admit the fact that you are absolutely in love with our little Annabeth here. Or maybe are you just too dim-witted to not see it at all?"

Now it was my turn to glare. _Denial? Who does she think she is? _"Who are you calling dimwitted? You are just a rights speaker! I have a job where you actually have to know things!"

"You have to know about fish! Try knowing about people! Of course you would never do good at that, with how dull you are. I'm pretty sure you have no common sense, what-so-ever!"

"I got us to safety, Thalia! I got us dinner, found that claw mark in the tree, and lead us on the expedition!" by now I was shouting, probably gaining the attention of the others.

"And how did that turn out, Percy?!" she yelled back at me. I knew she was referring to Annabeth, immediately hitting a nerve. It was my fault, wasn't it? It was my fault that she got attacked… I should have just let them come with us, and had us all go looking for fresh water later.

_It would've kept her safe._

Thalia immediately saw that she hit a nerve, and her face went from angry to apologetic. "Oh God, Percy… I'm sorry."

I looked at her, my expression probably shell-like. "I'm going to go look for fresh water. Stay safe."

I slid myself out of there, and saw all the others looking at me with wide eyes. They must've heard us. _No crap? Of course they heard us. We were yelling on a deserted island!_

"Let's go, guys," I spoke, and I saw Nico and Grover nod hesitantly. They followed me into the forest, slower than normal. I ignored it, and just kept going at my usual speed. If we wanted to be back by sundown, we were going to have to hurry.

However, after a few minutes of traveling through our old tracks, I started to notice traces of red on the ground. _Blood._ I started to notice that the farther we went, the more blood was on the forest floor. I started slowing down, reliving bits and pieces of us hurrying back to the beach to help Annabeth.

_Juniper sobbing._

_Annabeth's blood seeping through my fingers…_

I looked down at my hands, seeing the blood that had just been there hours ago.

_Nico doing everything he could to stop the bleeding on the move._

_Thalia teaming up with Nico to get us to shore faster._

_Grover freaking out._

I stopped in my place, my eyes glued to my hands. All I saw was the thick scarlet red substance that had taken its place on my hands not too long ago… and I have a feeling it was going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

I started hyperventilating, shaking my hands to try to rid them of the blood. _Annabeth's blood._

"Hey Percy, you alright?" I heard Grover and Nico ask, over and over.

"_Are you okay?"_

"_Dude, you don't look alright…"_

"_Come on Percy, answer us!"_

All of the sudden, the blood was gone and I was shaken back to reality. I looked at the two, my eyes glassy. "I'm fine," I said.

Nico cocked an eyebrow while Grover just looked freaked out. "Are you sure? Because that episode you just pulled… it looked like you were possessed," Nico explained.

I shook my head. "Probably dehydration," I muttered. "We should get moving to make sundown."

They nodded, still looking unsure about my sanity, but I shook them off. I started off again to find that fresh water. My only hope now was that after getting re-hydrated that those illusions I was seeing would disappear… hopefully.

In no time we were at the last place the two claimed to have seen a conscious Annabeth, and I smiled remembering what I told Annabeth before I left, and this was exactly it. Smart girl.

But looking at all the surroundings, I was able to lead them to one way, and soon enough we were met with water.

Fresh water.

I smiled, and looked at Grover and Nico, who were looking at me in shock. "Dude, I don't know how you did it, but whatever you did was pretty cool," Grover said, and Nico nodded in agreement.

We filled the little bottles that we had, and smiled at each other.

I spoke, "Guys? We got fresh water."

**School's starting tomorrow, so I was in a hurry to get this done… sorry if it sucks, but the next one will be better, I promise!**

**~GoGreen52**


	13. Feel Again

**I'm back! Today is a good Friday… haha, get it? Good Friday? Yeah, I know. Cheesy. Thanks for sticking with me, here. If you have any questions what-so-ever about what the heck I've been doing that has kept me from writing, feel free to PM or Review. I'll get back to you on that. **

**~GoGreen43**

**Stranded**

**Chapter 13- Feel Again**

**-Thalia POV-**

I pretty much came to an ultimatum. All guys are complete idiots, and by no means deserve the love of a woman. I don't know why we reel ourselves into relationships and hurt when we can see the outcome.

Right now, I can pretty much see one of the worst outcomes- physical pain. Physical pain always starts form emotional pain, no matter how small. If you never felt any emotional pain, there would be no way possible to feel physical pain.

You wouldn't be able to conceive the fact that you are hurt.

Unfortunately, Annabeth felt both. I could see it in her eyes when Juniper and I left with Percy to go see the claw marks. She was jealous, and that meant she was in emotional pain.

She let herself get close enough to Percy to like him in more just a friendly manner, and he basically did the same. So why the hurt? Well, I will admit that I have some fault in that. I flirted with Percy to see if she really did like him, because we all know that Percy is way more easier to read than Annabeth. I've known he liked her since the first time I saw them together.

I wasn't so sure Annabeth liked him back, though. Until that night by the campfire, I wasn't so sure that she shared the feelings that Percy had. And, feeling like a close friend of Percy's, I took it upon myself to see if she really felt that way about him, so I flirted. And boy did she react.

I mean, come on, I took a course about reacting to others emotions. It was as clear as a crystal the way that she acted jealous. Yet, unfortunately for her, Percy is about as oblivious as any other guy in this universe, and had no idea about her feelings.

So, he went along with it.

And Annabeth was in even more emotional pain. I've felt that way before… seeing someone that I thought I knew, act the same way with someone else. Suddenly, I didn't feel so special. I think she felt that way too.

I guess because of how she was in that much emotional pain, it lead to her being reckless, and not realizing that she was in danger till too late. So, in reality, the reason why she was lying in front of me with deadly wounds… was my fault.

Not Percy's. Not anyone else's. _Just mine_.

The worst part of it all, though, was how I felt about Annabeth. She's one of my friends now, and I let her down. A few tears slipped past my eyelids, as I was tending to her wounds.

I failed her, and now she has to pay for what I did. I don't understand why the best people always get hurt. Just like how I don't understand why I acted like I did. It just _happened. _

"Thalia… are you okay?"

I looked up to see Juniper, sitting there, looking at me worriedly. I guess she thought this was the part that I burst out into sobs, crying about how worried I was for our friend.

She was partly wrong about that.

I took a deep breath and wiped the tears from my eyes, and tried to smile at her, even though it probably looked more like a grimace. "Juniper, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, okay?"

Her eyes narrowed as she took my stature in, but she let it go. "Okay, I guess. I just wanted to let you know that the guys should be coming back soon with fresh water… you'll probably be here for a hour cleaning her up with that. Why don't you clean up while I watch her for a while?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration. _Was she trying to get me away from Annabeth? Did she see that it was my fault, too?_

Instead of interrogating her, I just nodded and walked off to the break. The sun was starting to go down, and the waves seemed unnaturally calm. I just shrugged my behavior off, and took my shirt and pants off, leaving me in nothing but my underwear. I walked into calmness of the waves, and started rinsing the dried blood off. I knew I should probably be worried about sharks, but to be honest, I didn't really care.

I was numb.

I made one friend almost die, and I made another friend probably become emotionally unstable, making him believe it was his fault.

None of them deserved that… if anyone did, it would be me.

_Okay, now you're just having suicidal thoughts._

I shook my head as I walked out of the surf, and threw my clothes back on me. I knew that if I wanted to prove to myself that I'm needed here, I was going to have to make myself useful. And I knew that included helping Annabeth.

I walked back the hut that we built, and slid inside to see Juniper talking to Annabeth and holding her had.

"…that's when I knew that I wanted to be someone that would help save trees. All because of how I fell off of one when I was in kindergarten and broke my arm… seems kind of ironic, huh?"

Juniper looked up at me, and blushed when she saw I was there. "Oh, uh, I was just talking to her… I heard somewhere that it was good to talk to people who are in a deep sleep to get them to wake up. And, you know, so they can feel normal if it's like a TV show where they can actually hear us."

I laughed a little bit and took a seat on the other side of Annabeth, taking her other hand. "I think it's a great idea, Juniper. So… I guess I should explain why I became a woman's rights activist."

I smiled at Juniper, who smiled back at me, her eyes bright. _A step closer to forgiving myself. _"Well, when I was younger, my mother was a drunk. Not really a fairytale or anything, but my mom would bring these guys home that weren't really the greatest. They would beat her, and I would have to take my younger brother and hide the two of us in a closet or bathroom… I hated the men for what they did to her, but I guess I also hated her for what they let them do to her. She thought she deserved it, I guess. So ever since then, I pretty much knew what I had to do."

Juniper looked at me with wide eyes. I just smiled at her and shrugged. "Deep, I know. But I know that even if that didn't happen, something else probably would have, and making me end up doing what I do today. But to be honest, if it weren't for my brother and Chiron, I wouldn't trust men at all, today."

Juniper gave me a small smile, and I could tell that she knew what I meant by that fact. I was starting to catch on to how we all felt about our old mentor, and I know that we all thought of him as a second father. Somehow, I knew that if you had Chiron Brunner for a mentor, it would be impossible to not think of him as a father figure.

"So, Annabeth, I think you should wake up so you can tell us about why you became a world-famous architect? Besides, I'm dying to find out why your so close with Percy all of the sudden… maybe some late-night make out sessions that Juniper and I need to be aware about?"

All of the sudden, I felt something twitch in my hand.

Then I realized that I felt Annabeth's hand twitch.

_Then _I realized that Annabeth heard me, and responded to me.

Damn, if I knew that would wake her up, then I would've made fun of her sooner.

"Annabeth, can you hear me?" I asked, hoping that it wasn't some kind of one-time thing_. That would suck. _

Juniper looked at me weirdly, but I shrugged it off. We waited in silence for a few moments before our thoughts were cut off with a groan.

_Annabeth._

Juniper looked at me, shocked, as I took my other hand and stroked Annabeth's hair. Her eyes tightened up, and her face moved into a grimace, so that only answered my worst fear.

She could feel it all. I hoped that she would be one of those people where your body would numb it up before you could feel it, but I guess she wasn't that lucky.

She groaned again, straying me from my thoughts. I went into action-mode. "Juniper, go see if the guys are back, yet. We are going to need that fresh water, pronto."

Juniper, who still looked like a deer in headlights, nodded hesitantly, and left the hut. Annabeth's eyes still haven't opened, and I don't really want to see the look in them when they do.

Not being able to imagine the kind of pain she is in, I just tried my best to comfort her. "Annabeth, it's going to be okay, you're going to be okay... just hold on for us, okay?"

Annabeth moaned again, and I felt her squeeze my hand. I could only imagine what that meant, so I just made myself think about the positive things she would probably say.

But I knew that if we were going to get anywhere with helping her, she was going to have to open her eyes. Then, at least I would know if she hurt her head, or if she's going into shock. But right now, her eyes are tightly shut and her face is in a grimace. I could tell she was trying not to let anything escape her mouth.

I stifled my laughter at the thought of her screaming curses.

That would be a show.

"Annabeth, I need you to open your eyes for me, okay? Don't hold anything back… it'll give you a head ache if you do," I mumbled, giving her hand a squeeze.

And that's when she started screaming in pain.

_Now I know why I made Juniper leave._

**-Percy POV-**

I knew how close the day was coming to a close. After taking a drink of water, to test it out of course, and filling up our little bottles and baskets, the guys and I headed for the camp. We knew that we had to move quick, not just because of the sun going down, but because of Annabeth.

It hurt to think about her, laying there and in pain. I couldn't shake the image of Annabeth laying there with the claw marks on her body. I've never seen someone so helpless before, even on the countless times I've been face to face with death before.

_At least I know that I have incredible luck._

"Percy, I don't like this," Nico said from his position behind me. I knew what he meant. Not just by the darkness that was creeping its way into the forest as the sun went down, but by what had happened to Annabeth earlier. We all knew that every step we took was dangerous.

The same thought was going through all of our heads. _What if that thing comes back for us?_ Every time that thought ran through my head, my pace quickened… so by now my pace was close to a run. The others were having a hard time keeping up with the bottles and baskets, but I knew they were happy I was going fast.

As I was running, I immediately thought back to Annabeth. What were her thoughts as she saw what hurt her? Was she even scared? Did she even have _time _to be scared?

My breath quickened as I saw the familiar look of blood on my hands, and I had to keep myself from looking down. But every time I tried to avoid seeing the blood, I would see her lying there. I couldn't get it out of my head, no matter what.

I had to catch myself as I stumbled from my foot hitting a rock on the forest floor. That's when I figured that I was just being foolish, and stopped. I had to tell them… this was eating me alive.

"Guys, this is my fault."

Grover and Nico stopped behind me, and as I turned around, I could see looks of imminent shock on their faces. Grover tried to speak up and say something, but I cut him off. "No, just please let me speak. I was the one who made her be so reckless in the first place… it's my entire fault. She shouldn't be hurt… not her, not anyone…"

I pretty much expected them to agree with me and get a move on, and not what they were doing. They shook their heads, and started to laugh. "Percy, I think you have it all wrong. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hell, if I went the way she did, it would be me there lying on the beach with those wounds. It could have been any one of us," Grover said.

I shook my head at him, disagreeing with him. I knew it was my fault, and I knew that it wouldn't change... no one could change the fact that Annabeth was hurt. Maybe, if I took her with me to show her the claw marks, it would never have happened.

"Percy, stop thinking about it. It's done. It happened. Get over it," Nico snapped, his eyes narrowing. "I don't think you understand half of the story, anyways. I think you should talk to Annabeth before you start to blame yourself."

I knew that they would never be able to understand what was going through my mind. To be honest, sometimes I don't understand it myself. But they can't say that it wasn't my fault. They didn't see what I did to her. I was stupid, and I made her reckless.

That's why she wasn't on guard.

Instead of fighting with the others, I just silently turned around, and started for shore, at a faster pace. Just knowing that Annabeth was on the beach made me move faster than I was before. I knew that I had to make this right, and I had every intention of helping her.

It all starts with the water.

We were edging close to the opening to the beach, when I nearly avoided running into Juniper. She had a frantic look on her face as she was running towards us. My heart almost stopped when I realized some of the reasons why she would be trying to get us.

_Annabeth…_

"Juniper, what's wrong?" I heard Grover ask.

"She-she, she's awake!"

With that, I broke out into a sprint towards the hut, only to stop when I heard for the second time one of the worst sounds in the history of the world.

_Annabeth's scream._

I moved in slow motion, setting down the bottles and basket carrying the water I brought back here, and walked wordlessly to the hut, cringing every time I heard Annabeth scream or moan.

_All my fault._

I slid into the hut, and caught my breath when I saw Annabeth squeezing Thalia's hand, as she was looking in Annabeth's eyes. Feeling protective of her, I quickly moved over to where Annabeth lay, and started to move back some hair from her face, and try to comfort her while Thalia did her work.

Over a moan, I could hear Thalia say, "Her pupils are dilated. That could just be from the pain… where's the water?"

"Right here," Juniper's voice said. I could hear a scuffle as Thalia took the water from Juniper, but my focus was on Annabeth. I was mumbling sweet nothing to her, telling her it was going to be alright, and that I was there for her.

I was never going to leave her.

When she met my eyes, I saw her smile a bit, and she squeezed the hand that I was holding. All of the sudden, her eyes widened, and she started to scream. I looked up to Thalia for help when I saw that she was washing out Annabeth's wounds with water and the scraps of the tee shirt.

I felt Annabeth's death grip on my hand, and even though she was grinding it to dust, I didn't care and I just continued to try to calm her down, stroking her hair, and just trying to make her comfortable. I didn't know what else to do.

Soon, Annabeth's screams turned to moans, and her moans turned to nothing. She was sleeping in my arms, and I was holding her close, but careful of her wounds. She was never getting away from me again.

I saw the look Thalia threw me when she slipped out of the hut, and I smiled.

_Of course everyone knew I was falling head over heels._

**How did you like it? Don't forget to REVIEW or PM me… if you have anything to say, of course **

**~GoGreen43**


	14. Shark Tracker

**HEYO! Sorry for the horribleness of my updating, but I have good news for you! I wrote down the whole plot of what is going to happen in stranded, so the updates will be coming quick, and that is a promise. Now, because my leading reason as to why I haven't been updating is gone, (writer's block) I can actually get things done for a change. Thanks for sticking with this story, and I hope you like what I will be doing to it.**

**~GoGreen43**

_**Previously on Stranded:  
><strong>__I mean, I'm just Piper McLean. How should I know how to find where Annabeth is?_

_After putting the mess away, I started to pace. I knew there was something wrong, though. There was something going on that I couldn't figure out. I knew there was this piece that didn't add up. I don't know what it is, but I do know there is definitely a piece that is missing from the puzzle._

_All of the sudden there was a knock on the door, making me jump. I shook my head, and looked at the clock, which read 7:53 a.m._

_Who would be coming by at this hour?_

_I walked to the door, a fearfully opened it. My eyes widened at who it was. Well, I knew I was going to see him again, but certainly not at this hour. I was probably expecting at like 11, but I guess from his excited complexion, he probably figured out that missing piece._

_I was face to face with Jason Grace._

**Chapter 14- Shark Tracker**

-Piper POV-

To be honest, I'm not too proud of the first thing that came to my mind when I first saw Jason. When I saw him, I saw his plain white V-neck tee shirt, and his Calvin jeans. _Boy was he hot._

And he was standing at my front door.

"Piper, I need to ex-" He was cut off by my door slamming him in the face. I wasn't ready to put up with any of his crap today. I have my own crap that I need to care about. Even if he is one hot mess, I don't need any time wasted on him today.

I need to find Annabeth. That's my priority.

I guess the shock wore off when I heard a constant wrapping on my door. "Piper, come on, open up! I know you're in there!"

Damn right he knows I'm here. And he can go to hell if he thinks that I'm opening that door. So casually I just sat down on my couch, put my feet up, laid back and closed my eyes.

If only he could stop knocking and calling my name. I know that I dreamt of this, a hot guy coming and knocking on my door, begging for my very presence, but now… I'm pretty sure instead of a dream, that's going to become a nightmare.

So, I did what anyone in my situation would do. I tried to tune him out, and pretend like he wasn't there. _And _that _worked well._ "Pipes, come on! Open the door! I have to tell you something!"

Soon, the knocking started to fade, and his voice did as well. I knew he was there though- I took a quick look through the peep hole.

"Piper," he was talking now. "I know how to find them. Piper, I really do! Please just-" He was once again cut off by my door, but this time he practically fell over because he was leaning on it.

His blue eyes looked at me with wonder, and I could tell by his expression that he usually doesn't have to knock on a girl's door for a good half an hour to get her to open it. He just continued to look at me speechless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"You knocked?"

He realized what he was doing, and blushed, and looked to the floor, blinking hard. "Oh, yeah, uhm… I know how to find them?" It sounded more like a question, as he was testing my patience, expecting to get the door slammed in his face again.

_Come on, I'm not that mean. _

"Well, come in then." I opened the door even wider, and allowed him to walk into my apartment. He smiled a little when he saw that an architectural documentary was playing on my television as I showed him to the kitchen.

"Do you want anything to drink?" I asked, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. I wanted some of my 'special' lemonade anyways.

His eyes widened at my change of attitude, I can't blame him, considering I slammed the door in his face like forty minutes ago, and wouldn't open the door. Now, I'm actually showing some hospitality. "Sure, that would be very nice, considering I had been yelling at the door for quite a while."

I just blushed and smiled sheepishly at him. "Look, I'm really sorry about that… I kind of thought that you were just going to yell at me for the stunt I pulled back at the station."

He smiled at me a little bit as I handed him the glass. "I actually thought that was pretty brave of you. I don't know too many people who would stick up for someone like that."

I groaned when I blushed again. I was angry for being so good to read when I realized that he saw the impression that he was making on me. I coughed a little bit, trying to bring the attention away from my cheeks. "So, you told me that you know how to find them?"

Jason immediately stiffened up, and his expression went all business. "We know where the plane crashed- and if they got onto some craft, we would be able to trace where they went according to the wind direction, and the currents in the area. I know that the coast guard will be able to go and get them on whatever island that they're on, but in order to get them, we have to find them."

"But wouldn't they have done that already?" I asked, my hands cupping the cool glass. "Obviously if people are missing, you're going to have to find them."

"But do they know _where_ to find them? That's my question. I know how to find people, and if my sister's life is at stake here, you better be sure that I'm going to help."

I nodded, looked down at what I had left in my glass, and downed it. Jason looked at me surprised. "Now it's time to go talk to Katie."

He smiled and downed his too. A sour look came onto his face as he looked at the now empty glass and back at me. "Vodka in lemonade? Really?"

I winked at him as I grabbed my bag and walked out the door.

We took my car to the station, mainly because I don't do motorcycles. Besides, I just gave the guy vodka, so I'm not all for taking any chances.

The drive there was silent. I was busy driving and honking my horn at the traffic, while Jason was sitting in the passenger seat and looking out the window, seemingly lost in thought. I didn't really want to disturb him.

So, being stuck in traffic, and tired of honking the horn, I took my chance to ogle him in quiet. He had a scar just above his lip, leaving me wondering what happened. Somehow it didn't make him look any less hot. If anything, it made him even more.

I was too busy checking him out when I heard a horn sound from behind me, causing me to flip the finger and drive. Jason, who came back to reality, saw what had happened and started to laugh, only to stop right as I glared at him.

_Annabeth has taught me well._

We got to the station unscathed, and I parked. I ended up having to parallel park, and Jason was freaking out over how close I was to one car. "How did you even get your license, woman?" he asked, leaning over his seat to try and see the other car.

I shrugged and shut off the car. "It's a trick that involves a mini skirt and high heels. I don't think you would want to know."

He just chuckled and shook his head in awe. I never cease to amaze.

"Let's get inside," I said, hopping out of the car, and grabbing my bag. "And find Katie."

Jason got out and followed me up the cement steps into the station. When we walked in, it was less busy then the last time we were there; still, there were desks with people being questioned, and a big desk with one mean looking lady sitting behind it.

I immediately walked over there, and pretty much declared my presence. "Hello, my name is Piper McLean, and you can call me Piper. I need to talk to a Katie who works here… she was questioning us about the plane crash that had taken place."

Jason pretty much just had to stand there and look all innocent behind me.

The lady looked up at me. She had really scary eyes that were a dark brown- almost black. Her nose was huge, and she was rocking a pretty mean unibrow. She opened her mouth, and I swear one of her teeth was missing. If she didn't have a tag saying 'STAFF' on it, I would have thought she was a convict.

"Miss McLean, there wasn't and will never be a Katie who works here. Now please, stop blocking the way of people who need my help."

I glared at her, and she glared right back at me. We were having a glare-showdown when I heard a voice behind me ask, "You called?"

I turned around to see Katie smiling at me, and gesturing for me to follow her. "Please, come with me."

I gave a little snarky smile at the woman behind the counter, and followed Katie and Jason down a hallway. We stopped at a door that had a little finger print scanner, and Katie pressed her thumb down, and gestured for us to follow her.

We walked into a lab, full of people in white coats scanning things, sampling things… you know, lab stuff. It kind of reminded me of one of those CSI shows. Katie lead us through the large area, full of different rooms that were all surrounded by glass- so you could see exactly what everyone was doing.

"Here is where we process all of the evidence," She began, and led us into an area of the lab that was empty. "Here is where you guys will be working with a few people from my team to find your friends."

The room that we were in had a whiteboard for a wall, a large table in the middle of the room that from the looks of it was an interactive table- which is pretty much a touch screen computer installed into a table. On the wall that wasn't covered in white boards, there was a counter that held a bunch of funky looking equipment that I had no idea how to pronounce.

"Wow," Jason said, he too taking it all in. "What exactly do you do, Katie?"

Katie laughed. "My job is a lot like yours- I find people. But I have the police force's power, and a team of my own. Normally I'm looking for criminals, like you, but this time someone called in a little favor and they want my team to find them. But I'm going to need a little help."

_What exactly did Jason do?_

I was looking between Jason and Katie, and they began to talk about plans to find the people who went missing. I suddenly felt inadequate. Why would Jason ask me to help him, out of all people? I'm pretty sure Katie just wanted me to be there because she felt bad for me.

I'm completely useless.

I looked at Jason, who was on his phone, in shock. Since when was he on the phone? _What the heck?_

Confused, I listened to his side of the conversation. "Hey, Beckendorf… Yeah, could you come to the station? I think we know how to find them… Of course, take your time… Okay, see you then."

He ended the conversation, and shoved the IPhone back into his pocket. He looked at me and Katie once before he said, "Beckendorf is going to be here in about thirty minutes. You better let that lady at the front desk know to send him back here."

Katie smiled a little. "No, I'll have to go and get him and bring him in. You saw the finger scanner, right? Besides, Marge isn't about to let anyone know that a woman named Katie works in this building." I laughed a little at that, and Jason smiled.

"After that encounter, I'm steering clear away from that lady," Jason said, shuddering a little bit. "I _swear_ the mole on her face was alive."

Katie and I burst out laughing at Jason. That guy never ceases to amaze me, and I hope I'm the same way. Katie walked over to the table-computer thing, and pulled up a map, then left.

Yep, she left me and Jason alone in the same room together… talk about awkward.

"So," I started, getting his attention. His sky blue eyes looked into my hazel ones. "What do you actually do for a living? I don't believe you ever told me."

Jason smiled at me, and leaned back on the table. "I'm pretty much what Katie said I am. I find people, pretty much. It's kind of like I'm a private investigator or a bounty hunter, because when I find the person I'm looking for, usually criminals or runaways, I get paid."

I nodded. "Stick with private investigator- it sounds a whole lot more professional."

Jason laughed a little bit and asked, "So, I never really got to ask you what you do, either."

"Well, I work for Annabeth Chase, a world renowned architect. I assist her, you know, and I help her with the job when it gets hard." I sighed, looking down as I remembered how Annabeth would always go to me for help.

We were more like sisters then coworkers.

Jason moved closer to me and looked me in the eyes. "You two were close, weren't you?"

I nodded, "You and your sister were close, too?"

"Very." Jason got that faraway look in his eye as he said, "We were pretty much as close as you could get."

Suddenly, his expression changed as he asked me, "Do you have any siblings?"

I shook my head in response, still a little confused as to why he asked me that, but the look on his face said it all. "So she's kind of like your sister then, right?" I nodded, and then his face contorted into one of sympathy.

Then what happened next will probably be permanently etched into my brain for the rest of my life. He hugged me. Jason Grace pulled me close to him, and wrapped his arms around me. His face was in my hair as he said, "I'm sorry."

That's pretty much when the dam broke. Tears started streaming out of my eyes like a waterfall, and my hands gripped onto Jason's shirt as if it were my lifeline. As for the time, it was. His hands moved in soft, comforting circles on my back.

We held that position for a while, and to be honest it seemed so right.

I heard someone clear their throat from in the hallway, and I quickly backed away from Jason, put my hands behind my back, and turned to face them. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him do the same.

Katie and Beckendorf were standing there, smiling at us. Katie gave Jason a look, as if they had some sort of private joke or something. I'm just sure that my face was as red as a tomato, really nothing else.

My mind blocked the others out; it was like I was unable to comprehend what the others were saying as I lie there in my own misery and embarrassment. I can't believe I would actually cry in front of a stranger! Or, at least, someone I met the day prior.

I just don't do that.

Like Beckendorf could feel my embarrassment, he walked by me, and squeezed my shoulder as he passed. It was as if he told me it was okay.

He's a good guy.

Jason and Kate were looking over the map, and Beckendorf was pulling something up on the computer. And whatever it is, it looked important.

And there I was, standing in the middle of it all, looking as stupid as I could possibly be.

_Great, now even more embarrassment._

Beckendorf clicked on something, then hopped out of his seat and walked over to the table where Katie and Jason were looking over. I went over there too, to see what was going on.

Katie pointed to a spot on the map, located between a small group of islands. "This is where the plane crashed into the ocean. It had crashed in the middle of an archipelago, so there are many islands where your friends could have floated off to."

Jason looked confused for a moment. "What exactly is an archipelago?"

I sighed at his behavior. "Jason, an archipelago is a group of small islands. Please proceed Katie, but with caution," I said, nodding my head towards Jason. "He obviously didn't learn too much in geography class."

Beckendorf stifled a laugh and Katie just smiled as she continued, "Jason helped me with pinpointing a few islands that they could possibly be on. Using the currents and the wind direction and speed, they could be at one of these five islands, here."

"That's about as far as we could narrow it down to, though. In order to be sure, we need some help," Jason added.

Beckendorf nodded, but I looked down, confused. "So why don't we just send the coast guard to go and check those islands out? There has to be something we can do," I spoke.

Katie looked at me sadly. "There is a storm system heading over those islands, so there is no way the coast guard can get there, and check each island fast enough. We don't know how much food they have, or even if they're alive… we have to be able to pinpoint it to an exact location for the coast guard to even be interested in this case. I'm only doing this as a favor for an old friend, and as far as everyone else is concerned, these people are all dead."

I put my head in my hands, trying to think this through. I heard Jason's voice, "Beckendorf, please tell me you have something."

I heard him take a breath and reply, "Actually, I think I might be able to figure out where they are. Percy and I set up shark trackers- buoys that send signals to us each time a shark that we tagged goes within a mile radius of the device. It just so happens that this archipelago is a known place for Great White sharks to make their domain. "

Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm saying that we put one of these buoys close to each shoreline of each island, and a few in the middle of them. We use it to track where they go, so for that, these devices are always on, per say, transmitting. And as soon as one of the devices for some reason stops transmitting, it would be because of an outside force. Something that isn't a shark- more like a human."

"So you're saying that if Percy figures out where they are, he can let us know where everyone is from pretty much breaking one of your devices?" Katie asked, her eyes wide. Beckendorf nodded at her, and leaned onto the table.

"It's a good plan, but if this happens, it's a long shot. Are you sure Percy would know to stop the transmission?" Jason asked.

"Positive. Percy Jackson was the one who built these things, he was the one who worked with these things day in and day out. He will figure it out if he can calm himself down."

I sighed. "Let's just hope that they're alive and able to cut that transmission."

We all looked at each other, all thinking the same thing.

_They finally have a fighting chance._

**Hope you guys liked it! Long time overdue, I know, but at least I got it to you!**

**~GoGreen43**


	15. Sleeping Beauty Awakens

**Hey yall! Sorry, I was pretty dumb and decided to take a whole bunch of AP classes this year, and with that on top of sports, I seriously have no time to write… It's pretty much been driving me crazy. ON top of that, I found out that I have a fracture in my lower back, and now I'm in a back brace for three months. Fun, right?**

**~GoGreen43**

**Stranded, Chapter 15**

**Sleeping Beauty Awakens**

**-Annabeth POV-**

As I started to come back to consciousness, I started to become more aware of things. Those things definitely included pain, because that was all I could feel; but at the same time I was able to hear people talk around me.

"What if she never wakes up?" a hoarse voice spoke. After that person spoke, the room I must've been in was eerily quiet. It was almost like hearing someone speak through a dark fog.

"Don't doubt that, man. I know for a fact that Annabeth is going to wake up. She's too stubborn to die," another voice replied. It was far less gravelly than the last. You could also hear more hope in their words, but I still felt like I was hearing them through a fog.

The first voice spoke again, "I should have been there, Grover."

A faint sigh escaped someone's lips almost in reply to what the hoarse voice had said. "I know that's going through everyone's minds right now, but it's my fault she was there in the first place! I should have gone with you guys- I should have made sure she was safe." The last part was spoken so softly I wasn't sure if they had said it.

After hearing that, all I wanted to do was wake up. I wanted to wake up like in the movies so everyone can be happy again. I want to comfort the person with the gravelly voice, and let them know that it's not their fault, I mean, I was the one who was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the first place.

This was no one's fault. No one at all.

Hell, I don't think that even the Oracle in the Greek Myths could have seen this one coming.

Now I just need to wake up.

Voices from different people came in and out. Some sounded sadder than others, but really, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that I was at a funeral, and everyone here was paying their respects. _I really hope that doesn't happen to me…_

I couldn't move like this for a long time… or at least I _think_ it was a long time. In fact, time seemed to twist and turn, and fade in and out. Truth to be told- I really have no idea how long I was out of commission.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

I woke up to the sound of a slight breeze hitting the leaves on the little make-shift hut that I was currently in. The sound was music of its own kind, a melody that you can only hear if you really listen. I opened my eyes and figured that the sun must have been rising, because you could see little peaks of sunlight creeping under the walls of the hut.

And besides the point that I could see a sliver of the sun over the horizon, Percy Jackson himself was snoring louder than any train I've ever heard right next to me. I relaxed a bit, but as I started to regain consciousness over my body, something was weighing down my arm.

My heart started to beat faster in fear as I slowly looked down at my arm, only to realize that Percy was holding my hand. Needless to say, that didn't slow down my heart beat, and I felt a blush creep its way onto my cheeks.

I studied the sleeping figure soundlessly. He was snoring, obviously, he was also drooling a bit, and he looked like hell for a person who was sleeping. It was almost like he could be an extra on the Walking Dead, but minus all of the guts and gore.

He was really pale, and his normally shining raven black hair was dull, and even more messy than usual. It was as if he'd been running his hands through his hair most of the night. He had dark spots under his eyes, making him look like a zombie in the first place. And to make matters worse, he had this stench to him as if he hadn't washed up in weeks.

Even with all that, I still thought he was pretty cute.

"Hmm… blue pancakes…" he mumbled, moving his head to the side on the little mat of vines weaved together that he was lying on. Come to think of it- I must have been laying on one too.

I started to laugh at his idiocy. Of course he would be dreaming about blue pancakes while we were stuck on an island.

Immediately I felt the strange sensation of what felt like sand paper on my throat. _Damn, I must have been knocked out for a while to have this effect. _I started to let out a dry cough, which hurt where I must have been scratched, causing me to let out a moan and accidently squeeze Percy's hand.

I sighed as I heard him stir against the mat and slowly wake up. I closed my eyes in embarrassment. Of course I would wake him up from a peaceful sleep. "Annabeth? Is that you?" His voice was hoarse, but not from misuse. It sounded like someone who had just stayed up the whole night crying.

"Annabeth, please, is that you?"

I let out a sigh, and immediately felt Percy's hand squeeze mine and something cold come over my cheek. I opened my eyes.

Percy was leaning over me, the light hitting his face in a way that made him look absolutely flawless. His eyebrows were all scrunched together and his eyes were full of worry. His smile grew as he realized I was looking up at him.

His smile turned wistful as he said, "You're finally awake." His voice was barely above a whisper, but I could hear it loud and clear.

I smiled up at him. "Of course I am, Seaweed Brain."

He laughed a bit, and his fingers brushed my cheek, and we just stared at each other, completely content with each other's presence. The hand that wasn't holding mine found its way to my hair, and he started to run his fingers through it, calming me immensely. I never wanted to leave this moment with him.

But we needed to get back to reality. "Are you okay? You were asleep- and you looked kind of dead."

He had a far-away look in his eyes as he replied, "I was just worried, that's all."

It was my turn to be concerned now. "Percy… how long was out for?"

The look on his face was a dead giveaway. It must've been bad. "Three weeks."

My eyes widened as I looked up at him. "Th-Three weeks? That long? Why the hell aren't we off the island yet?"

His head was bowed as he looked into my eyes again. A newer, deeper worry took over his green orbs. "We haven't exactly been thinking about that, you know. We really have just been trying to keep you alive. Annabeth, you don't know how worried everyone was- how worried _I _was."

At that moment, Percy Jackson sported the one look I never thought I would see on him. Defeat. His shoulders were slumped, his head bowed, and his eyes closed. The only way I was sure it was him was the fact that he was just talking to me earlier.

Unconsciously my hand found its way to his cheek, and he leaned into my touch. I was shocked by the gesture. _Did I really wake up, or am I dreaming?_

"Annabeth… seeing you like that- seeing you that close to _dying_… it made me realize something."

My breath caught in my throat. _What exactly is he getting at?_ "Percy…"

"Please, let me get this out… I need to tell you this. You changed me, Annabeth. Just being around you, I feel _right_. I don't know how to describe it… hell, I didn't even know that I could feel this way. I guess I've been trying to say is, Annabeth, I really like you. I definitely like you more than a friend- way beyond that. I'm not sure if this is love, but it must be pretty freaking close."

I gaped up at him. _What did he just say?_ My speechlessness was having an obvious effect on him, but I didn't know what to say… nothing really seemed to sound right when it came to him. Angst clouded my mind ashis face was getting redder and he flinched away from my touch, causing me to immediately feel hurt.

"I-I'm sorry… I guess I came on too strong or something… sorry." His voice sounded so sad, so _broken, _and I didn't know what to do.

He started to make his way out of the hut, scurrying out of there like I was some sort of disease. "Percy, wait!"

At the sound of my unsteady voice, he froze. I could see the muscles in his back clench together. "Please don't go…"

He slowly turned around, a look of hope crossed his face, and I nearly laughed in relief when a small smirk crossed his face. "How can I leave when we're stuck on this island?"

I playfully glared at him, happy that he is making this easy for me. "Oh, you big Seaweed Brain."

His hands went up like a white flag. "Hey, I was just being logical. Don't shoot the messenger."

"You're lucky, you know that?" I asked. His smirk became more profound as he looked down at me. This is the guy that I fell for- definitely.

"And why is that?"

I knew that it was now or never- I had to tell him. I started to try to sit up, and faster than I could see, Percy was next to me, a hand on my shoulder. "Annabeth, don't push it," he warned, his eyes wide and earnest. _Stupid Seaweed Brain, always trying to be the hero._

He was softly pushing me back down so I could "rest" but I've been sleeping for three weeks. I'm not about to waste any more time. I started to shake my head at him, "No Percy, I'm fine."

His face wrinkled with worry as I clenched onto his shoulder to help me sit up against him. He put an arm around my waist, helping me get myself steady. I could definitely feel the pain now- but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been earlier.

"Percy, I'm okay, don't worry."

"Annabeth, you and I both know that you're not okay. Please don't try to play it off. If you're in pain, don't push it, please, you don't have to prove anything."

"I just wanted to do this the right way, okay? I won't play it off, I promise," I spoke, looking into his eyes. If it were even possible, they seemed to be deeper and more entrancing than ever before.

He nodded, and urged me to go on. So I did.

I told him about the first time I met him. I told him how I thought that he was probably going to be a class A jerk, but then he surprised me, and he turned out to be one of the greatest people I know. I told him how I felt when he was flirting with Thalia, and how frustrated I was when he volunteered to go with her and Juniper to go and see the claw marks.

"I guess that, ever since I first saw you there were feelings there. I just didn't realize it at the time. And now… I can see it, Percy. I like you too, a whole hell of a lot more than just being friends. I've never really loved someone before… but if I have, I think that you mean more to me than they ever would," I paused, drawing in a deep breath. The look on his face was priceless, and to be honest, it scared the crap out of me.

His eyes were as wide as saucers, and a smile was creeping its way onto his lips. I couldn't really make out what was in his eyes, shock? Love? Maybe. Maybe I'll never know.

He seemed to snap out of it as he took my face in the hand that wasn't currently holding me up, and leaned his forehead against mine. "You don't know how _happy _I am after hearing you say that." Then, he leaned in to kiss me.

Percy Jackson was kissing me.

I would definitely be lying if I said that I didn't kiss him back.

When we parted, a sour look replaced the bliss on his face. My eyes immediately widened and I pulled away. "What did I do?"

Percy let out a frustrated sigh and replied, "Annabeth… we're stuck on an island. I don't think we should be doing this here, right now."

I bowed my head down, angry that he had to bring up a good point. We really shouldn't be messing with each other's feelings on this island. _And Percy just had to choose now to be logical? Seriously, where is the logic when you want it?_

I looked up at him, a small smile playing on my lips, even though they were itching to be on his again. "You're right, for once."

A sad smile played on his face, too. We sat in silence for a few long, antagonizing seconds before what I think was a light bulb go off in his head. "But as soon as we get off this island, I'm taking you on a date, okay? Then we can go from there."

I laughed a little bit at the innocence in his voice. "I wouldn't miss it, Seaweed Brain."

He gave me a soft hug, and the whole atmosphere had changed from the first time I saw him today. It was almost as if it were lighter, like a weight was lifted off of our shoulders.

"I guess I better go check on the others, you know… make sure they're not killing each other." Percy's voice brought me back to reality as I remembered that we weren't the only ones on the island. Come to think of it, I heard some yelling coming from outside of the hut.

Percy tried to ease me back down into my original position, but I wasn't going to let him. "No, I'm going with you."

He threw an annoyed look at me, and pouted. "But Annabeth, you promised me that you wouldn't play it off. Give it time, the last thing you need is to reopen your wounds."

I scowled at him, and let out and exasperated puff of air, but let him ease me back onto the mat, where I closed my eyes. "This is going to be a long healing process, Jackson."

Percy let out a laugh and squeezed my shoulder. "It'll be over before you know it."

"Yeah, that's what they all say."

With a final squeeze, he left the little makeshift hut and went out to play mediator between who I think was Nico and Thalia. They've never really gotten along, but I think it might just be because of sexual tension. That's the cause of most disputes between men and women. I think I read an article about it before…

_Am I really thinking about this? I really need to get out of here._

Yet, I did make a promise to Percy… but if I need to get out of there for my sanity, then I don't think that I would be pushing myself, I think that could be played off as keeping my mental stableness.

Yeah. That can work.

So, ever so slowly, but surely, I eased myself out of the hut. It took quite a while- as a matter of fact by the time I actually got out of the hut everyone was around a campfire, and they were asking Percy questions. About me.

"Yeah, I told her to rest, and I guess she decided that I was being smart for once and agreed."

Everyone had smiles on their faces. Juniper was leaning into Grover's shoulder, as they were sitting together on a log. Thalia and Nico were sitting as far apart as they could on the log that they shared, which was to be expected. Percy was leaning forward, describing what had happened when I woke up, but I noticed that he left out the part where we "proclaimed our love to each other."

"So are you sure she's all right? Should I go check on her?" Thalia asked, wringing her hands together. She looked nervous all of the sudden, but Percy's soft smile reassured her.

"Do you really think I would leave her alone if I had any doubt in my mind that she wasn't okay? Trust me Thals, all she needs is a little rest, so we shouldn't wake her up."

Nico sighed, and rolled his eyes. It was as if he was annoyed with how overprotective Thalia and Percy were being of me. I think I might like that guy.

"Thals, Annabeth is obviously okay. Percy hasn't left her side for weeks. And since he did while claiming that she's okay, I think it's a sign from the gods or something that she's one hundred percent okay."

I tried to hide my laugh when Thalia glared at him and pushed him backwards off the log. The others were laughing at the duo, so I let a few good laughs escape. _They like each other... I just know it._

"We just need to figure out how to get off this island," Juniper's soft spoken voice vibrated throughout the beach. It was probably the one thing that everyone had in the back of their minds.

Well, that, and the small matter of if we're _ever _going to get away from this place.

"Juniper's right," Grover added. "We need to start figuring out how we're going to get out of here now that Annabeth's okay. Not to mention the small fact that the _Thing _is getting closer to shore every day. We can hear it at night, now."

Confusion started to set in. "What Thing?" I voiced. Everyone's heads turned to face where I was standing, leaning against the small palm tree that hung over the hut.

One look at Percy's face and I knew that I probably should've kept my mouth shut.

"Annabeth! What the _hell_ are you doing?!" Percy exclaimed, jumping up and running over to me. He did a quick glance over. "Are you okay? Why are you out here? You promised-"

"Annabeth! You're awake!" Percy's rambling was cut off from the other's excitement. I turned away from the angry green eyed god, and smiled at my friends.

"Hey guys," I laughed, as they all copied Percy and ran over to where I was. Juniper gave me a soft hug, careful of my injuries.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Annabeth!" Juniper cried. "We all missed you so much!"

I hugged her back, smiling past her shoulder at everyone else who was looking at me wistfully. "I think I can't say that I actually _missed _you too, but I think you get it."

As soon as Juniper let go of me, I was immediately pulled into Thalia's arms. "You can't scare us like that ever again, Annabeth. You're my sister now, and I couldn't handle seeing you in that state." I pulled myself away from her, and looked into her tear-filled eyes.

"_Thank you," _I whispered, tears filling my eyes. "That means so much, Thalia."

But of course Nico had to ruin the moment, and pulled Thalia out of my arms and away from me. "Enough of the sappy stuff. Annie, I'm glad you're alive and okay. Really, I am. I view you as a sister too, but we can just cut out the part where we cry in each other's arms 'cause that's really not my thing."

I laughed and hugged him anyway. "Whatever you say, Nico."

I let him go and did a little side hug with Grover, who had Juniper wrapped up in his other arm. "I'm glad you're okay, Annabeth," he told me genuinely.

"Thanks Grover," I said, but then I eyed Juniper and Grover closely. "It seems to me that I've missed quite a bit while I was out of commission."

"Well, I guess this conversation can be spoken over the campfire and some fish," Percy interjected. _Oh, poor Percy is feeling left out._

The others led the way to the campfire while Percy put an arm around my waist to help me over to the campsite. "Are you sure you're okay? Because I'm sure the others will understand if you go back-"

"Percy, shut up. I'm absolutely positive I'm fine. The only reason why I'm letting you help me is because you're practically my future boyfriend. Now stop rambling and start thinking! I'm still a little peeved that you guys decided to put figuring out how to get off the island because of me. I thought you guys were more logical than that," I scolded.

Suddenly, Percy stopped walking, causing me to jerk forward when he did. Before I could ask him what was wrong, he took my shoulders and turned me to face him. "I don't think you understand how everyone here cares about you. We _all _love you Annabeth. And when you were hurt, it was like there was a missing piece to the group. You. We all agreed that we were going to focus on keeping you healthy and giving us the best chance to survive this thing until you got better."

I gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry that I'm making such a big deal about this. I've never really been a part of a family before, you know? I have one person that I depend on so much… but apart from her, I have nothing."

He just smiled at me. "Well now you have something. Come on, the others are waiting for us."

Percy guided me to the one log that was left open for the two of us, and helped me sit down. I slapped his hand away, though. I swear he was treating me like a crippled old woman.

_I may be a cripple, but I am definitely not an old woman._

"How about we build a raft?" Nico suggested when everyone was comfortable. Well, as comfortable you could be while sitting on rotting logs.

Percy shook his head, "No. Building a raft will get us nowhere. There are a bunch of storms headed our way based on how rough the tide has been lately. It would be suicide for us to go out on a raft."

"Well then what are we going to do, Percy? Wait for the Thing to come to shore and maul us like it did to Annabeth?" Nico snapped.

My eyes widened and Percy clenched his fists. Thalia glared at Nico. "Have you no heart? God, Nico. Will you ever learn what you can and can't bring up?"

Nico tilted his head downwards, and I saw him in a new light. He never looked so rugged and tired before, not when he had to stay up on lockdowns in his TV show, or even before I was, like what Nico said, mauled.

He looked worn down, like this whole problem has been taking a toll on him. Really, he looked like a traveler who wanted nothing more than to go home.

"Look, I'm sorry. We just need to figure out how to get out of here before we get into even deeper trouble. The last thing we need is for someone else to get hurt," Nico explained, bringing his hands to his face with a sigh. "I've never felt so helpless in my life."

I threw him a comforting look before I spoke up, "Nico's right. We need to get off this island before someone else gets hurt like I did. Grover, Juniper, is there any way you could think of that could get us off this island?"

Grover shook his head. "Other than smoke signals and a raft? I have no idea."

Juniper rolled her eyes at him. "Smoke isn't working and Percy blew down the whole raft thing. Besides, the ocean has sharks. I really don't like sharks." Juniper shuddered apparently at the part of being in the same body of water as a few sharks.

_Not like I couldn't blame her with what happened after the plane crash. Who would?_

I looked over at Percy, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Sharks…" he muttered, then furrowed his eyebrows.

"What is it Percy?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sharks," he said, a smile creeping up on his face. My eyes widened as Percy continued, "I think I know how to get us off this island."

**I hoped you didn't mind the fluff. I mean, Percabeth had to happen at some point, didn't it? ;) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! Remember I'm up for PMs, Reviews, etc. for any criticism, helpful input, or your random thoughts! See you next time!**

**~GoGreen43**


	16. Silence Before the Storm

**Hey guys! Thanks for all of the absolutely amazing reviews! I kind of want to get through this story pretty quick, considering right now it's pretty much an all or nothing… I just wanted to say a quick thanks to all of the reviewers and PMers, considering you all have been phenomenal, and you guys make the time to write this story worth it. So bravo to you guys! And Girls too!**

**~GoGreen43**

**Stranded- Chapter 16**

**Silence Before the Storm**

**-Annabeth POV-**

About an hour ago, Percy discovered how to get us off the island. Even though it could be by chance that the plan all works out, there has been a noticeable change in the atmosphere. We were all really excited, and immediately put our plan to work.

I just hope that this works out, or the excitement that everyone has been having will soon turn into doubt of actually getting off of this island alive.

_-Flashback-._

"_Sharks," he said, a smile creeping up on his face. My eyes widened as Percy continued, "I think I know how to get us off this island."_

"_Wait, what about sharks? What do you mean, Percy?" Thalia asked, her electric blue eyes shining with hope. _

_I put a hand on Percy's shoulder, and looked at him, a small smile on my face. "What he means, is there must be some shark tracking device around this island. If I remember correctly, during one of the episodes in his television series, Beckendorf and Percy set up shark tracking devices around the parts in the ocean that we were flying over."_

_Percy continued for me, "If we can find one of those shark tracking devices, then we could find a way to send a signal back to my buddies at the lab. If we can do that, it's protocol that if one of those devices are messed with, someone has to go and fix it. That leaves us with a ticket out of here."_

_A worried look passed over Juniper's face. "But if a shark tracker is in the water, don't we have to go out into the water, shark infested might I add, to send that signal? Like you had said Percy, going out on a raft is suicide!"_

_Percy sighed and said, "It could be suicide, but it all depends on when we get that raft ready. If we are able to beat that storm, there might just be a chance for us after all."_

_No one spoke after that input. We really could be getting off this island, and this time there wasn't any sort of fluke that went with it. Really, it's a matter of finding this shark tracker or being stuck here._

"_Well, what are we waiting for? We have to beat the storm!" I exclaimed, standing up probably just a little too fast, as I started to sway from the sudden dizziness. Following my actions, everyone shot up with me, obviously worried I was going to pass out or something._

"_No, you're not going to be doing anything, Annabeth. The last thing that you need to be doing is aggravating your wounds, okay?" Percy pleaded. I was pretty sure if he wasn't busy holding me up, he would probably get on his knees._

_How could I disagree with that?_

_I gave him a little smile and nod for an answer before he did anything to change my mind. "Great," Percy looked between me and everyone else. "But she was right. We need to get moving before the storm comes in."_

_-End Flashback-_

After that, everyone has been working non-stop, and I've been doing my job as a multimillion dollar architect- telling them where to put everything. It would have been a lot more humbling, not to mention faster, if I were actually helping them, but I think they're doing a pretty good job for a bunch of rookies. The only good part about it was watching the men work shirtless. I know that Percy's my almost boyfriend, but he's not the only one with abs.

I felt a little bad for Juniper and Thalia… they can't exactly strip like those boys can. What is it, like 100 degrees? The humidity is roasting us alive.

"Percy, you have to get some twine or something to keep those two pieces together," I directed from where I was sitting… underneath a palm tree. All I needed was a drink with an umbrella and I would be in paradise.

Besides the pain and the oncoming storm, of course.

"I know, Annabeth!" He snapped.

I just smiled sarcastically. "Payback sucks, isn't that right, Seaweed Brain?"

He knew he really couldn't say anything to win this argument that wouldn't take a long time, so he returned to his work, glaring at the twine in his hands and becoming more rigid with his weaves.

"Hey Thalia! Can you bring those two pieces of tree bark over here?" I asked, and Thalia's head snapped up and looked at me confused. I pointed to where there were two long pieces of bark that if I could just wear down, would be able to be perfect oars for going around the island.

"Sure."

Thalia jogged over to grab the pieces of bark, and I was kind of surprised that Percy hadn't said anything yet. I was expecting a "what do you think you're doing" or maybe a "you shouldn't be doing anything, you'll just hurt yourself."

Thalia came up to me with the two pieces of bark, a hard look on her face. "I hope you know what you're doing, Annabeth. Percy wouldn't be too happy if I let you go and get yourself hurt, you know."

I scowled and grabbed at the bark. "When did you start caring about what Percy thought? And you know that I didn't mean to get hurt when that _thing _attacked me."

Thalia sighed, and sat down across from me, and took the bark out of my hands, and replaced it with her own hands. "Look, Annabeth, when you were hurt, Percy was a wreck… I've never seen a man like him- so regal and easy going break down like he did. He really cares about you. We all do… but he's different. He loves you. And you love him. Don't do anything that could change that… I don't think I could take seeing him like that again."

I clenched her hands with a soft sigh escaping my lips. "I'm sorry… it's just that I didn't ask to be hurt, you know? I didn't ask to have a little date with death, or whatever you want to call it. I just want to help, that's all."

Thalia gave me a soft, motherly smile. "You're helping us by just being alive, Annabeth. Please, just remember that."

I nodded at her and the nodded my head toward the raft. "You better go help the others before they come over here and start asking questions."

Giving me one quick squeeze, she released her hands with mine and went over to where the others were, and Nico looked between the two of us, obviously figuring that something happened, but he shrugged it off and got back to work.

_I've never seen a man like him- so regal and easy going break down like he did._

My eyes darted to where Percy was now working, and took a deep breath. I didn't know how much this all had affected him. He's really something, that's for sure.

I watched as the others finished up the raft, probably breaking a record with how fast it actually took them. I was still chipping away at the pieces of bark when Percy and Juniper walked over to me. "Do you need help with that?" he asked, his signature smirk plastered on his face.

Juniper didn't even ask, she noticed what I was doing, and sat next to me to start helping. "Yes, but not from you. Juniper and I have this covered. Go and help the others do whatever they're doing. Besides, you should figure out who's going with you."

Percy's face was wrinkled with confusion, so I clarified, "The raft is only big enough for two. You are obviously going, whether I like it or not, considering you're the only person who knows what this tracker actually looks like. So, you're going to have to figure out whom to take with you."

"Oh. Okay, well… who do you think I should bring?" he asked, grabbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"I think you should bring Grover or Juniper with you," I answered. "They probably would have the best idea besides you where to put a shark tracker." Juniper's head popped up at her name, and her eyes widened, and a scared look crossed her face.

"If you think I'm going out into the open water with those sharks, you're sadly mistaken," she boldly stated. "Take Grover, he'll probably be a better help than me."

Percy's responding smile was pretty adorable, I must say. "I guess Grover's tagging along with me, then."

Juniper sighed in relief when he left to go break the news to Grover, and I smiled and continued to work on the oars.

**-Percy POV-**

After I told Grover that he was coming with me, which was relatively easy, we got ready to set sail. The raft was ready, but I could sense some fear in the others. Grover was pretty much putting on a brave face for the others, who were already nervous.

"Guys, I wish I could come along too," Nico had said, putting his hands on our shoulders. "Do us a favor and come back alive, okay?"

I smirked in response. "Look, I'm probably the best person that could do this job. I've been in worse conditions, you know."

"Well that's comforting," Grover said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"It should be, Grover. I've been in far worse situations than this and I've managed to live."

Nico laughed at the two of us and clapped our backs. "Just come back in one piece, alright?"

"Don't worry about us," I said. "I've a lot of experience with this stuff."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," a woman's voice spoke. We turned to face the girls, and Annabeth looking at us expectantly. She continued, "The two of you cannot let your guard down and any point in time, got that?"

"Glad to see you're worried about me," I said. "You must really care about me after all."

Annabeth playfully glared up at me, but gave me a hug in response. "Don't ever doubt that, Seaweed Brain."

I smiled softly at the soft side to her personality, and I comfortably hugged her back, and kissed her hair, almost a brotherly gesture. But anyone who knew the two of us would know that it was definitely _not _just a brotherly gesture.

"Ugh, get a room!" Thalia exclaimed. "We really don't have time for this, you two!"

"Come back safe, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth spoke, and I nodded. I would always come back for her.

"Grover, let's get going, man!" I exclaimed, dragging the raft out to sea. Grover jogged over to the raft, pushing it out from behind. As soon as we got far enough for the riptide current to drag us out to sea, we hopped on the raft.

The others were waving us off, well everyone but Annabeth. She stood there with her arms crossed, and for some reason I felt that I could see her grey orbs from here. She really was worried about me.

I tore my eyes away from the scene behind us, and got out the two oars that Annabeth and Juniper had made from tree bark. I just hope that they would be enough, especially in choppy water like this.

"Grover, we got to make a circle around the island…. About two hundred meters out from shore. That's where Beckendorf and I would have put one of the Shark Trackers if we put one here at all."

He nodded, and started paddling out even farther. Once we had gotten to about two hundred meters away from shore, we started to make a circle around the island. "So what exactly are we looking for?" Grover asked, and I shrugged.

"Well, the tracker is held up by a large orange buoy, which is tied down by and anchor and chains. The buoy we used is indestructible to shark teeth, so we'll have to get in the water to deactivate the tracker itself, which is why I'm here."

"Oh."

We rowed in a comfortable silence, but the urgency was gaining as we started to see some dark clouds heading toward us over the horizon. I was right about that storm, and it annoyed the crap out of me.

"So… what was that back there between you and Annabeth?" Grover asked, obviously trying to make small talk.

"Not much," I answered. "At least until we get off the damned island. What about you and Juniper? You guys have been awfully close lately."

Grover let out a long sigh. "It's complicated… you know? There's a spark, but we really won't know for sure until we leave this place. It could just be there because we're two of six people alone on an island."

I nodded, understanding completely. The only difference between the two of them and Annabeth and I is that Annabeth and I know that our feelings have been there ever since we first met. It's always been there- a feeling that's hard to explain.

My thoughts were cut off from the sight of a bright orange buoy in front of us. We must have been easily half way across the island by now; I couldn't see anything that was familiar to me. Actually on this part of the island, it was all cliffs… the remains of any beach was long gone.

"There it is," Grover stated in awe, and we started rowing even faster to the orange buoy, ignoring the searing hot pain in our arms from how long we've already been doing this.

"You don't know how relieved I am that I was right," I told him, dropping the oar onto the floor of the raft. "I wasn't too sure that we'd actually find one of these things."

Grover nodded. "At least we know that people actually know that this island exists."

I smiled in response, and started planning for what we were going to have to do. I knew I was going to have to get into the water, and then Grover was going to be alone in trying to keep the raft from floating strait to the boonies.

"Okay, Grover, keep this thing steady," I directed, slipping off my shirt, and tossing it on the floor of the raft. "I'm going to go and deactivate it- all you need to do is make sure you don't drift off and leave me here."

Grover nodded, and gave me a small salute. "Good luck Percy."

I just smirked in response, and then dove into the water.

Saying that the water was cold would be a major understatement. It was freezing. Unfortunately for me, the water was also murky enough to the point where I could barely see my feet. The salt in the water hardly affected my eyes- they were used to saltwater to the point where the only way I could tell the difference between saltwater and freshwater was how bitter the salt tasted on my lips.

I immediately came to the surface, and looked up at Grover, who was obviously trying desperately to keep the raft in place in the choppy water.

I looked away to try and see the orange buoy, spluttering as the little waves in the water was hitting me in the face. I started swimming towards the buoy, and sighed in relief as I finally got to it. I gave my arms a break and leaned onto the floating device.

Once the numbness in my arms blew over, I dove down into the water to get to the tracking device. It was hard to miss- a bright yellow box that held a complex system of different machinery that makes a direct contact to our gear back in the lab. Beckendorf was more of the techy guy, so he was in charge of keeping track of all the signals, but I was lucky enough to be in charge of this particular project- so I was the one who actually created these things.

The box was made of the same material as a black box from a plane. Every time one of the sharks that we tagged went near the box, the machinery in the box would send a signal to us back in the lab.

I was going to have to break open the box and break this thing to get someone from the lab to come out to this island.

_It's not like it's impossible, right?_

Once I started running out of air, I held on to the chain and eased myself up to the surface. Once I got to the surface, I immediately went into a panic.

Grover was nowhere in sight.

I started mentally cursing to myself as the clouds started to roll in, and the fact that I couldn't see Grover, or my ticket out of the water, anywhere.

_Okay… I'm going to die here. But that won't mean anything if I don't get that signal sent back to the lab._

I immediately calmed myself down, and took a deep breath before I dove back into the water. Even if I die, I'm going to make sure that the others get off the island.

I rode the chain down to where the tracker was, and started to mess around with the box, trying to figure out exactly how I could open it.

It took everything I had left to keep myself from screaming in anger when I realized that I was going to need a key. A little keyhole was staring at me, mocking me. _How the hell am I going to open this now? _I can't exactly break this thing open- it's been specially made so it could withstand a shark bite.

There aren't too many things stronger than the very thing I need to break.

Running out of breath again, I let the box go and swam up to the surface. I realized that it was a lot darker than it was the last time I was on surface. I looked up to see storm clouds surrounding the island, and started to freak out when rain started to fall.

_I'm going to die, and I can't even save my friends. I'm sorry about that date, Annabeth._

"GROVER! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" I started to scream out, trying to gain solace that maybe he was actually still looking for me.

"GROVER!"

I started to get mad. It wasn't fair. I was trying to save everyone, and as a response, I die. That doesn't seem to fair to me.

For the second time in my life, I didn't know what to do. Ironically both times were on the island, and now I was going to die. It wasn't fair.

My rambling thoughts were cut off when I heard someone yell, "PERCY!"

I laughed out loud. "GROVER?"

I literally started to laugh when amidst the rainfall, Grover was rowing strait toward me. I was happy- I might actually have some luck after all.

Once he got closer, I told him what was going on. "Grover, the box that we need to open needs a key! I could try to pick the lock, but I'd need some sort of pin!"

Grover looked at me in confusion. "Why don't you just break it?"

I bit my lip to keep from saying something that I would regret. "Grover, we can't just break this thing open… it's built to withstand a shark bite!"

Grover nodded, then started fishing through his pockets. He pulled out the one thing that could possibly make everything that I just went through, worth it. A Bobbie Pin.

I swam over to the raft and grabbed it from his hands. "You're a lifesaver, Grover!"

"I know."

With the pin in hand, I dove into the water towards the yellow box. Never once before had I been glad to have been a troubled kid. Before now, I never thought knowing how to pick a lock would really come in handy.

Once I got to the box, it was a matter of seconds before I had it open. When I got inside, the receiver was very small, half the size of the box itself. It didn't seem to be ruined from the water, so I took it, and swam carefully to the surface.

"Grover! I got it!" I called out. He was on the raft, again, struggling to keep it steady. "Hurry Percy! Deactivate it!"

I wasted no time in slamming the receiver against the buoy, and with a small puff of smoke, the lights went out, and I knew that it was broken.

_That's strange… who's idea was it to make the receiver so breakable? I'm such an idiot._

After I broke the receiver and threw it into the depths of the ocean, I climbed back aboard the raft, not able to catch a break from the water because as soon as I did that, the steady rainfall turned into a downpour.

"Crap!" I exclaimed, grabbing the oar, and started rowing at a frantic pace. "We've got to get back to the island, quick!"

We wasted no time at all getting back to the shore. I didn't bother putting my shirt back on, it's not like I would be heated up from it. Instead, I wrapped it around the handle of the oar, which was digging painfully into my hands. I mean, it _was _bark after all.

"I see them!" Grover exclaimed as we came around to the other side of the island where the others were waiting. It took a few more seconds before I could see them. Juniper and Annabeth were waving us in, yelling something that I couldn't hear.

"Let's get in, then!"

Once we got in close enough, we rode the waves into the shore. When the raft suddenly stopped from hitting the sand within a few feet of water, the sudden jerk caused Grover and I to go flying forward onto the beach.

I noticed Annabeth hobbling over towards me, and sink to her knees at my side. "Percy, you're blue."

I scowled up at her, who was obviously trying not to laugh. "I was just in the freezing water for forty minutes. I should be dead, Annabeth." Her eyes widened when she realized that I was serious.

"We have to get you dry, then. Let's go, Seaweed Brain."

She helped me up, and we leaned against each other to get to the hut that looked like it was barely holding itself up with the rain pouring on top of it. I felt a little bad about relying on her like this, especially since she had just been in a coma for three weeks.

We struggled into the hut and just collapsed when we reached it. "Did you find it," Annabeth rasped, obviously using a lot of her energy to hold me up.

"Yeah, I thought I was going to die for a few minutes there, but Grover was able to save me after all." I closed my eyes, glad to finally get some rest after all of that. Suddenly, I felt a kiss on my cheek.

"I'm glad you're okay, Percy. You're not getting out of our date that easily, Seaweed Brain."

I laughed to myself, just glad to be safe, and in bliss at the fact that we were actually going to get off this island. Annabeth and I were going to go on that date after all.

"Where are Nico and Thalia, anyway?" I asked, curious as to where our missing friends were.

"They're looking for more things that we can use to stabilize this hut, with the storm coming and all."

"Okay."

I wrapped her up in my arms, finding solace in the fact that we were both actually alive, even after all that had happened on this island.

But reality set in when my eyes jolted open at the sound of a scream of sheer terror coming directly from the forest.

**DUNN DUUUNNNNN DUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!**

**Haha, if you thought that they were actually going to get a break, you are sadly mistaken!**

**~GoGreen43**


	17. Storm Systems

**Thanks for the reviews and PM's! I love hearing from you guys! **

**~GoGreen43**

**Stranded- Chapter 17 **

**Storm Systems **

**-Piper POV-**

It's been weeks since I've really had any hope of seeing Annabeth again. I've gone out with Jason a couple times, and he had actually asked me to be his girlfriend.

But I declined.

And I haven't spoken to him since.

I'm pretty sure that my boss has given up on me, considering that he stopped calling to see if I was okay. Every time he called, I always gave the same answer. And now, I'm pretty sure he's sick of it. I mean, I would be too.

My boss had told me to take a month off when I first let him know that Annabeth had indeed been in a plane crash, and that we couldn't find her. I had insisted that she was alive, and that I wasn't going back to work until I found her.

He gave me a month.

I have one day left.

Lying on my couch, I felt absolutely hopeless. For all I know, Annabeth is dead, and I can't do shit about it. I mean, Annabeth is pretty much like my older sister, and if she's dead… I don't know what I'm going to do.

_Be strong. That's what you're going to do._

Without Annabeth, I guess I've been pushing everyone away. Jason had told me before that he was like a yo-yo, and that's why he would always come back to me, no matter how stupid I was being. But the one time it really counted, he didn't come back.

I suppose that it was my fault, I mean, I did probably break his heart. I didn't even get to explain myself and tell him why I said no before he stormed out of my apartment. I had made him dinner for our third date, when he officially asked me to be his girlfriend.

Looking back on it, I wish I had said yes or I could've explained before I said no. But then again, I'm no Annabeth Chase. I'm not one of the smartest people in the world, officially ranked number four.

"Why do you have to be so stupid, Piper?" I whispered to myself, letting the tears fall freely down my face. I've been doing this sort of thing a lot lately, crying, talking to myself, you name it.

Instead of standing there in my own misery, I decided that I needed to do something. I knew that there were some new neighbors, and that no one probably properly welcomed them, so I figured that I would bake them some cookies.

I haven't baked in a while, usually I would just order takeout or go out to eat, but I needed to get my mind off things. Besides, I've already cleaned my house five times over today. Baking would be like a change of scenery for me.

I was lucky that when Jason and I would hang around and my apartment I had bought some of the dry ingredients to make cookies. I had eggs this morning, so in knew that there were some left over, and the water can just come from my sink.

Soon I was covered in cookie dough, flour, and had water sprayed all over my face. Apparently I should get my plumbing checked out.

When I finished creaming the dough, I put in the little chocolate chips, and added them to the mixture. I wasn't even tempted to eat the chips, which is a little weird, even for me. Once they were thoroughly mixed into the cookie dough, I made them into little balls and put them on my baking sheet.

I set the oven for four hundred and fifty degrees, and then started to clean up my mess while the oven was preheating. I'm not exactly a clean person, so I barely made a dent into the mess when the oven started to beep.

I absentmindedly shoved the sheet into the oven, and paid for it when I was burned by the coils because I forgot to put my oven mittens on before I put it in there.

I didn't bother to run it over cold water- I could barely feel it anyway.

Nothing really hurt that much anymore.

I started to clean up the mess that I had made, and it took me quite a while, considering that I was down a hand because I didn't really feel like getting my burn aggravated by the table cleaner.

When I had finally finished picking up my mess, the oven beeped again, signaling that the cookies where done. Using my oven mittens this time, I pulled the sheet out with the newly made cookies immediately shrouding my kitchen with a mouth-watering smell.

I barely noticed it.

I waited for the cookies to cool down before I took them off the sheet and put them neatly onto a plate.

Before I was ready to bring them over to the other apartment, I looked down to see that I was an absolute mess. I quickly walked over to my bedroom and I changed into a nice pair of jeans and a white v-neck before I threw on my jean jacket to cover it up.

I quickly grabbed the platter of cookies and the keys and was about to go when I heard my cell phone start to ring. I didn't recognize the number, but not really feeling like I was in any hurry, I answered it anyway.

"Hello, this is Piper McLean."

"Hi Piper! It's me, Katie!"

My eyes widened and I responded, "Katie? What's going on?"

I heard a sigh at the other end, and closed my eyes, praying that the reason she called me wasn't bad. "Katie?"

I heard the sigh again, and then a reply, "Piper, we found them."

I gasped, dropping the platter of cookies to the ground, my keys falling to the ground with it. I didn't bother bending down to grab them before responding, "W-What? Are you sure?"

"Beckendorf just received a deactivation of one of those shark tracking devices off the coast of an island not too far from where the plane was wrecked."

Now the phone in my hands was shaking, and I along with it. "Are we sending some people to pick them up?"

I heard that damn sigh again. "That's the problem, Piper. We tried getting the coast guard to go get them, but apparently our evidence is lacking. But we know that the only way one of those things could break is because some kind of interference created by a person- nothing else could have been smart enough to do that."

"So you're saying that we found them, but we can't get them?" I asked, my voice shaky.

"Yes. Beckendorf could send out for a helicopter, but it would take a week… so we've done that, but you had said that you could get someone to pick them up in the past?"

I started to massage my temple, feeling a sudden migraine coming from nowhere because of this situation. "Yeah," I breathed. "I can get someone to go there within a day at the least. Some guys who own a nationally used port near that area owe Annabeth a favor."

"Great, we're going to need you to get over here as soon as possible. I'm sending one of my guys to pick you up- I can tell when someone isn't eligible to drive."

I growled into the phone, but shook it off. " Okay, I spose' I should get ready. See you soon, Katie."

"See you, Piper."

I hung up, and my knees felt weak. I leaned against the wall next to me, and put a hand over my chest. My heart was speeding, and I felt dizzy. Funny, my hand started to hurt a whole hell of a lot more now.

I was waiting patiently (as patient as I could possibly get) until I heard a knock on the door.

Jumping up at the noise, I rose slowly and surely, making sure that that really wasn't just another dream about me finding Annabeth… instead, assuring myself that this was actually happening.

I opened the door, my purse in hand, and stared up at the guy who was standing at my door. He had curly brown hair, and a matching pair of brown eyes. He had a grin on his face that just told you he was a master at getting himself into trouble.

"Piper McLean?" I nodded. "I'm Travis Stoll, Katie's husband, and partner on the job. Katie-Kat told me to pick you up."

I stared blankly at the man who I now know is actually Katie's partner. I thought he wouldn't be as gangly as he is… perhaps a little broader- more like Jason. Travis started to shift uncomfortably, so I saved him the trouble. "Are we going to go or what?"

His grin widened annoyingly. "Of course Pipes. Let's get going." I clenched my fists when he called me _Pipes_, like Jason used to. Instead of making a big deal about it, I figured that he had no idea what that meant, so I let it go.

I followed Travis to a car, a nice looking Mustang. I whistled when I walked up to the car, and Travis' grin (if possible) got even wider. "Yeah, the job pays pretty well, especially when your clients live on the upper half of town."

I forced a laugh, deciding to humor him. The look on his face changed drastically when he stopped on the driver's side of the car, looking at me over the roof of the sports car. "Are you okay?"

I raised an eyebrow at his antics. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you okay? Forgive me for asking, but you don't seem to be acting like yourself."

"How would you know how I act? You've never met me before." I put my hands on my hips, glaring at him now.

"Well, it's just that from what Katie has told me, you're usually the cheery one of the group- that, and that you have a strong sense of defiance about you. I don't see it."

I scowled at him before trying to open the door. The bastard locked it. "You're not getting in until you tell me what happened."

I let out a long sigh. _I guess telling a stranger that I probably won't see again would be better than telling a friend that knows me better than I know myself. _"Okay, but can we get in the car? I don't feel like talking about my problems in the middle of the street."

In response, Travis unlocked the doors to his car, and hopped in, me following his actions a second later. Now I know why Katie and him are married. She's guarded, and he's very understanding. It makes sense.

Once I was settled in the car, I began telling him about what had happened to me. I told him about how I never really had a family, and how Annabeth took the place of my older sister. I told him about how we worked in the same firm, the one that she owned, and that she was going to see her old mentor for a gathering he was having.

I explained how that was the last time I saw her. I told him about my reaction to the news, and how I was broken up about it. But I also told him about how I had to be strong. How I couldn't let this affect me so much while others had actually lost their siblings while I haven't.

Then I brought up Jason. I spoke about how much Jason means to me, even after I broke his heart.

"Why would you say no?" Travis asked. "Obviously you really like him, or you probably wouldn't be talking to me about it."

"I just think, well, that I'm not good enough for him. I think that I'm only replacing his long lost sister, and that as soon as she comes back, I won't mean much to him anymore. I just wanted to make sure that he had feelings for me that weren't because of him missing his sister."

Travis nodded, seemingly in thought. "So he stormed out before you could explain this to him?"

I nodded, and a hand came to my face. "You probably think that I belong in a mental institution after telling you this."

Travis just smiled at me, this time it was a real smile, not just a grin that he had been wearing before. "Piper, if I though you belonged to the loony bin, I probably wouldn't have even listened to your whole story."

"Thank God for that."

"But I do think that you have to tell this Jason guy what you told me. From what I heard from Katie about him, I've heard that he's quick to think things. You just need to clear this up for the two of you, before this budding romance you've got going on disappears."

I nodded at him, honestly taking in what he told me. "Thanks. But I really think you should get me to the station now, before your wife and Beckendorf start to think that I killed you."

He laughed a little bit and started the car before pausing. "Before _you _killed _me_? Sweetheart, I think it's the other way around."

I shot him an icy glare before I looked forward and said, "You obviously don't know what I'm capable of, my friend."

The rest of the car ride to the precinct was quiet. Not an uneasy type of quiet, rather a more comfortable kind. We had said all that needed to be said.

When we arrived, he parked in the ramp before looking at me. "So, I just thought I'd tell you that the one Jason guy is already here. I suggest that you tell him what you told me_._"

I felt the blood drain from my face as Travis cut the ignition and hopped out of the sports car. "He's here?" I choked out, after getting myself out of the car.

"Yeah. And so the hostility between the two of you doesn't affect finding those survivors, I suggest you get him alone right away and tell him."

I nodded, taking a deep breath. The color in my face didn't return, though.

We walked into the station, and Travis got me in to the 'special' part of the station, but not before I had a glare-war with Marge, the receptionist that looks like she could be a convict herself.

Katie met us once we reached the labs. "Travis, what did you do to her? She looks like she just saw a ghost!"

Travis put an arm around my shoulders, and I grimaced. "Pipes and I got along just fine, don't you worry Katie-Kat."

I clenched my jaw in annoyance, but my mind was somewhere else. I had to find Jason, I mean, I owed him an explanation. My eyes were scanning the different rooms behind the glass, looking for Jason.

"Piper? Are you okay?"

My mind snapped back to reality. Katie and Travis were looking at me worriedly. Katie looked confused, but I knew that Travis knew exactly what I was so worked up about. It just took one look at me, and Travis started to lead Katie away from me saying, "She just needs a few minutes, okay Katie-Kat?"

Katie was trying to look back at me, but Travis just continued to lead her away. "Okay?" she spoke, but it sounded more like a question than anything else.

"Thank God for Travis," I mumbled to myself, starting to walk around the labs to see if I could find Jason. _Wait… where's the room that we were in last time? He's probably in there._

I immediately started walking towards the lab that was designated for the case that we were currently working.

As I started to get closer, I started to hear some different voices. I recognized them as Jason and Beckendorf.

"I can't believe that she isn't coming! Can she be that selfish?" Jason's voice exclaimed, and I started to feel tears come to my eyes.

"She probably has a reasonable excuse, Jason. She probably is at work and got caught up in something."

I heard Jason's scoff. "She hasn't been to work in weeks. I doubt she would start going now, she said that she wasn't going back until she found _Annabeth._"

Tears started to stream down my face more freely now.

"Jason, stop it. You might be completely wrong about this whole situation. Besides, I haven't been to work since Percy went missing, does that make me any different?"

"It _is _different. You're here, working your butt off, while Piper's sitting at home on her couch on her butt. I can't believe I actually liked her… she only thinks for herself."

I'm pretty sure my heart was just broken.

I couldn't just stand there and let Jason talk about me like that, so I left. I left the precinct. Tears were streaming down my face, and I'm pretty sure that I looked really stupid.

"Piper! Where are you going?" I heard Katie yell, and I turned around to see Katie, who was standing by the front desk with some papers, her eyes wide.

"I can't do it, Katie. I'm not strong enough," I sobbed. "You can text me the coordinates that you want me to tell the company. But please, never make me come back again."

And with that, I left the precinct, cursing myself all the way home.

But a text stopped me in my tracks.

_Don't ever give up Piper. Not for anyone._

**-Jason POV-**

To say I'm mad is an understatement. I'm furious.

After letting out my frustrations about _that girl _to Beckendorf, I poured myself in my work. I never thought that Piper would be like this, but I guess I was wrong.

She's nothing but a no-good little drama queen. I was so stupid to fall into her trap, to fall for her and her beauty. I thought that she was different. But I was wrong; she's just like everybody else. And I've never felt more gullible in my entire life.

I was scowling at the floor, leaning up against the lab table. Beckendorf was frantically making calls to friends that could possibly retrieve our loved ones on the island, but so far there was no prevail.

I heard the scuffing of shoes coming into the room before I looked up. "Who are you?"

The curly haired man that was standing in front of me, seemingly out of breath was wearing a wicked grin and had a gleam in his eye. "I'm Travis Stoll, Katie-Kat's husband. So, did Miss Piper find you guys yet? If she didn't, I'd be surprised. I mean, she's one smart cookie."

My eyes widened. "She's here?" I asked, my voice a little choked.

Travis looked confused. "You mean she hasn't been in here yet?"

By now Beckendorf finished his last call and joined me in looking at Travis in shock. "Where is she, then?" Beckendorf asked.

"This cannot be happening! Katie will have my neck!" Travis freaked. "Maybe she's just lost! Yeah! I bet she's lost… I'll go look for her!"

And with that, as fast as he came in, Travis practically sprinted out of here.

I got in a glance at Beckendorf, who was looking a bit worried, before I heard a _"SMACK!" _and a second later an _"OWE!" _Katie must have found Travis.

My eyes were wide as Katie stalked into the room, dragging Travis with her by the ear. "Owe, owe, owe, owe!" She slammed the door shut before letting him go. "Good God woman! What was that for?"

"_That_ was for Piper! Why on earth was she crying? And running out of her no less?" Katie asked, looking at all of us with beady eyes.

Piper was crying? Why would she be- _oh shit._

"That was probably my fault," I spoke, my voice low. "I said some pretty bad things about her when I thought she didn't show."

Katie looked at me in surprise. "In front of her?"

I shook my head sheepishly. "No, of course not! I didn't realize that she was here! She must've been listening in, or something!"

Travis glared at me. "She told me about you, Jason. She told me that you were something special, and that she loved you… I don't see it."

I started to seethe in anger. "Oh yeah? If she loved me so much, why would she say no when I asked her to be my girlfriend? Why would she betray me like that? She knew that I loved her!"

Travis' face went red. "She loves you Jason! She only said no because she didn't want to take the place of your sister! All Piper could tell me was how great of a person you were, and how sorry she was that she broke your heart! She just wanted to wait for your sister to be home, so she could be sure about your feeling for her."

I looked down, and all of the color drained from my face. Now I realized that I never let her explain herself before I left. "Oh."

Travis' face turned back to normal, and Katie walked forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I shook my head. "It's my fault, okay? But if you see her again, can you tell her I'm sorry and that I love her? She'd probably never let me get close enough to her for me to tell her."

"I already did."

Everyone turned their heads to the now-open door, where Piper was standing in the doorway. She took all of my worries away when she threw a small smile in my direction, making eye contact with me.

Everyone took that as their cue to leave.

When we were the only two in the lab, I walked up to her and gave her a hug. "Piper… when I said those things… I was stupid, I'm so sorry."

Piper let out a small laugh with her head buried in my chest. "Jason, it's okay. I understand… you were already mad at me before, which is my fault. I would probably have done the same thing in your situation."

I buried my face in her hair. "That doesn't change the fact that I said it. I'm so sorry, Pipes."

"I'm sorry too, Jason."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What? Why are you sorry?"

She took a deep breath. "I never should have said no to you. It was stupid, and for that I'm sorry."

"If you're not ready to be in a relationship, I understand."

"No, Jason… I'm ready to be in a relationship- it's just that I wasn't too sure if you were. I had hoped that you weren't replacing your sister with me. I just wanted to be sure. But now I'm sure."

I smiled into her hair and pulled away from her, but kept her hands in mine. "Piper, will you be my girlfriend?"

Her responding smile was addicting. "Of course, Jason."

I pulled her back into my arms, and we stood there for a while. I whispered into her hair, "I can't believe that there was so much drama just because of one question."

Piper laughed, "We've already been through so much. I think it was just the nerves that got to us."

I kissed the top of her head, not letting go until the others walked in.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Piper had called that company that owed a favor for Annabeth. But their response was a bit frightening.

On speakerphone, so we could all hear the conversation, the man on the other end, who I learned was named Leo Valdez, spoke, "There's a storm system clouding that area. I won't be able to get there with a copter for about a week. But I could take a ship."

Piper looked worried, but I'm not too sure why. "Leo, are you sure that's safe?" Oh. She was worried for Leo. That doesn't make me feel any better.

"Piper, you and I both know I've been in worse situations. Annabeth needs help, and that's exactly what I plan on doing."

I piped up, "How long would it take for you to get to them with a ship?"

"About two days. Sounds much better than a week, doesn't it?"

"Definitely," Beckendorf agreed. "This is Charles Beckendorf speaking, by the way. I'm going to need your fax number so I can send you the aerial shot of the island, and where are possible spots as to where they are."

"Sounds good," Leo said, using a constant happy-go-lucky tone. _I'd love to meet this guy._

Piper gave the phone to Beckendorf, now off of speaker phone, and he went on the computer and faxed his different locations to Leo.

I draped myself around Piper when she started to look worried. "What does Leo mean when he said that there was a storm system?"

Katie pulled up the weather radar for the islands as to where we believed them to be. "Oh my."

The radar showed a humungous storm system, that would probably hit them for two days, from how fast the wind speed was. "Leo better get to finding them," Piper mumbled.

This storm looked like it would be a nasty one… I just hope the others are okay.

**So… did you like it? Hate it? Let me know!**

**~GoGreeen43**


	18. The Cliff

**Last time we saw the hero's on the island, Percy's happy thoughts were cut off by a scream… from whom? And why where they screaming? Is it the Thing? What is going to happen?**

**Read to find out…**

**~GoGreen43**

**Stranded- Chapter 18**

**The Cliff**

_**-Previously-**_

_I wrapped her up in my arms, finding solace in the fact that we were both actually alive, even after all that had happened on this island._

_But reality set in when my eyes jolted open at the sound of a scream of sheer terror coming directly from the forest._

**-Annabeth POV-**

A scream echoed throughout the island. The only other sound to be heard was the rain pounding on the roof of the make-shift hut.

"What the hell?" I voiced, and then started to leave the hut with a still shocked in place Percy sitting there. He caught me before I was able to get out of the hut.

I was a little slow after being in a coma for a few weeks… but that happens, I guess.

"Annabeth, stay here- we don't need you getting any more hurt than you already are," Percy told me, his hand gripping my shoulder for dear life.

Turning around, I was shocked to see the amount of worry on Percy's face. I nodded. "Then go, Seaweed Brain. They need you."

He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before scrambling out of the hut, leaving me staring at the exit like an idiot. When he left, I'm pretty sure that the rain started to pour down harder, causing a chill to go down my spine.

I had to get out of here.

I started to crawl out of the hut when I heard another scream, and Nico's voice yelling, "Thalia!"

_They need me._

With a more hurried pace, I was crawling out of the hut only to stop short when I heard the growl of the same creature that caused me to be in a coma for three weeks. My heart started to pound at a frantic pace, realizing that the Thing was coming close to shore for its final attack on us.

"Thalia! Nico! Percy!" I heard Grover call out, confirming my worst suspicions. Percy probably decided to play hero and ran headlong into the forest without coming up with a plan. _What a Seaweed Brain. _

My worry for Percy and my friends brought me back to the real world as I continued to slowly crawl out of the hut. Once I got out of the hut, I got up to walk using the palm tree as a support.

Looking out onto the beach, there was no one to be found. The tide had started to pick up, and the waves were only a few feet away from where I was standing on top of a sand dune. The rain came down in buckets, and I never felt more alone.

"Anyone there?" I called out, my voice hoarse. It was like a nightmare coming to life… I've never truly felt alone until now.

"Hello?!" I yelled, but my voice was drowned out from the crashing waves.

I started to tremble. It wasn't from the cold or from the pain of my wound being beaten on by the rainfall; it was from the sheer fear of being alone. I was alone… no one was on this beach but me.

My knees buckled and I fell onto the wet sand. "Percy! Somebody! Where are you?!" I hollered, praying that someone would miraculously hear me through the chaos.

But it seems that they didn't need to.

After another roar from the Thing, five muddy figures sprang out from the forest. I could make out Nico, who was holding Thalia up, whom was holding her leg. Grover and Juniper had come out first, holding each other's hands. Percy, the last person to spring out, was holding up the rear, throwing rocks at something that was chasing them.

I gasped, hearing another loud roar emit from the forest, this time exceedingly closer. That must be what Percy was throwing rocks at.

"Thank God!" I exclaimed, though I'm sure none of them could hear me. The fear on their faces was frightening me, though.

"Guys! It's going away!" Percy exclaimed, a look of relief shrouding his face. Everyone was smiling at each other, and Grover gave Nico a high five.

I could just barely make out what they were saying, "Dude, that was some real heroics," Grover told Nico, who shrugged. Thalia punched his shoulder.

"Yeah Nico, you were a real hero back there," She said sarcastically, looking down at her leg.

Percy came up to them and clapped the guys on their backs. "Nico, Grover's right. You were really brave to save Thalia like that."

I smiled in relief when I saw everyone was okay and that the Thing was gone. I leaned my head up against the palm tree. I didn't care that it was storming out. All that mattered was that my friends were okay.

That made me okay.

My thoughts were cut short by the sound of giant footsteps, making my heart skip a beat and my limbs go numb. _It never went away, did it?_

The small light that was emitting from the hut must have caused the Thing to be attracted to it, because the next thing I know, the Thing sprang out from the forest and started to go ballistic on the little make shift hut. When the dry leaves that were on the base of the roof hit the small fire, the whole thing went up in flames.

My eyes were wide as I looked right in the face of the very thing that haunted my nightmares. The Thing, which I now know is one of Ancient Greece's mythical monsters, one of which parents used to tell their children to scare them at night. A Hydra.

I screamed as one of the Hydra's three heads rammed into the palm tree I was leaning up against.

"Annabeth! No!"

The Hydra's head was a few feet away from me, so I acted fast. I took a rock that was next to me and slammed it into the Hydra's eye. It roared in agony, and as fast as it had come, it was gone. The Hydra fled back into the woods, but I had a feeling that wouldn't be the last time we saw of it.

"Guys! Annabeth's in there!" Percy yelled, as I heard someone sifting through the wreckage. I heard the others start to join him.

I slowly stood up, holding the bloody rock, and numbly walked over to the others, who were frantically searching for me. "I'm okay," I spoke. My voice sounded like it could've been the only noise on the island at that moment.

Everyone paused, looking up at me. My eyes turned to Percy, whose hands looked raw from searching through the rubble. But what I really noticed was his eyes. They were so wild looking, like I was staring into the eyes of a beast… it shocked me to silence.

"Annabeth," He gasped out, sprinting to where I was and wrapped me up in his arms. Only then did I drop the rock, and I clung to him desperately. I was scared out of my mind.

Something seemed to click in his head for a second before he pulled me away from him. "A-Are you okay?"

I nodded, and buried my head into his chest, ignoring the mud that rubbed off onto my face. I was already wet anyway.

Slowly, I pulled away from him and looked at everyone else. "We really don't have any time to waste here. The only reason why it fled was because I stuck a rock into its eye… next time it comes back, it's going to be a whole hell of a lot angrier, so we need a plan."

Nico's eyes narrowed at my remark. "How exactly do you think we can stop a Hydra?"

I glared at him. "Why don't you tell me? You call yourself in the supernatural. And correct me if I'm wrong, but this definitely seems to be supernatural."

Nico's eyes widened at my response. I normally don't lash out at others, so I wasn't expecting anything different. But if we don't come up with something fast, we're done for.

"Okay, how about everyone else? Have you seen something that we could stop it with before now?" I asked, trying to see possible scenarios of different things going on in my head.

Percy took one of his hands from my waste and raised it. I rolled my eyes. "Go ahead, Seaweed Brain."

"Well when I was by the shark tracker, I saw some cliffs on the other side of the island… if we could somehow lead it off the cliff; it would fall right into the water. There seems to be a drop off of the sea floor as well, so the Hydra would sink right to the bottom of the ocean."

A smile graced my face when I started to see an actual relevant plan form in my head from that finding. "Okay, so we blind the thing by shoving a few more rocks into its eyes before we lead it off the cliff- which it won't be able to see," I decided, looking at everyone else for approval.

"That sounds like an okay plan," Nico told me, and a small and apologetic smile came onto his face. That was probably his way of saying sorry.

"Thanks, Nico," I said. "Now, we're going to have to find some more rocks for this plan to work."

Percy put a hand on my shoulder as everyone started to search for some rocks to use to blind the Hydra. "Annabeth, wait for a second."

I turned to face him, confused at his sudden nervousness. "What's wrong, Percy?"

His lips drew in a tight line, almost as if he were deciding how to tell me something. "Annabeth, I thought for a second there…" his somber voice trailed off. "Annabeth, I thought you were dead. Okay? And that was probably the worst feeling ever, considering I was the one who told you to stay in there… but please, just don't do anything that could get you hurt. I don't think I could bare it if you pulled a stunt like that again."

My eyes started to narrow at his words. "What stunt? I wasn't even in there! Besides, if I didn't stop that thing, it would've destroyed this whole beach and probably kill all of us!"

"Look, if you want to ignore this, then go ahead. But don't come crying to me the next time you get hurt. You know what? Forget that date. If you don't care about my feelings, or about what I think, dating would be a complete disaster."

I glared at him, my eyes full of hatred. He glared right back at me, the same amount of hatred in his eyes, and maybe even then some.

I should've known that I would never be able to base a relationship off of this island. I was stupid.

In rage, I turned away from Percy, leaving him standing there in the dust. The rain still came down in buckets, and for the first time that day I was glad for the rain. I was glad the rain was able to hide my tears, while I cried to myself like a child.

_How humiliating._

I started to gather rocks, and glanced on in jealously as the two other couples on the island helped each other. Percy was at the other side of the beach, slowly grabbing rocks and putting them into a pile. Even from here I could see that he was as pale as a ghost, which I blamed on the previous adventure when he went into the freezing seawater.

_Stop thinking about him, Annabeth. You're only making yourself weaker._

Sighing to myself soundlessly, I rubbed my eyes and continued to find rocks. This plan was going to have to work, or we were going to kiss our lives goodbye.

Almost in response to my thoughts, I heard the Hydra's roar, coming closer and closer with each cry of anger.

Everyone gathered together with the rocks, and I looked at all the others, who had become my family while we were stuck on this island. My eyes landed on Percy, and we made eye contact. Grey to Green. I gave him a small smile, trying to find some sort of solace to our relationship, but his face was as still as stone, and he looked away from me.

_My heart hurts._

As soon as the Hydra broke through the brush, letting loose a whole bunch of fire from each head's mouths, we started to chuck the rocks, aiming for its eyes. I'm lucky I have wicked aim as I hit one of its eyes, coincidentally on the same head that I hit last time.

"I got a head!" I exclaimed, running around to the other side of the Hydra, where four eyes were still looking at us menacingly.

I almost had the urge to laugh at Juniper, when out of the corner of my eye I saw she was screaming every time she threw a rock. "Die Hydra!"

I let out a laugh when I saw Grover doing the same thing.

Nico and Thalia were playing the game of tactics, getting one of the heads to look at them, dodged the fire that escaped out of its mouth, and shoved a rock its eye.

All of the sudden, Percy started to take off toward the forest, and I fought myself to not face palm. The Seaweed Brain didn't realize that one eye was still left to be blinded… but then again, maybe he did know what he was doing…

To my amazement, the Hydra started to take off after Percy as its mouths were blindly unleashing streams of fire while it plowed after him into the forest.

Raindrops fell down from my hair and onto my face as the rain started to pick up, along with the wind. Taking the rock beside me, oddly the bloody rock I had used last time, and took off running into the forest after Percy and the Hydra, going to save the man who still has my heart.

"Annabeth! Wait up!" The others were running after the two of us. Great. Way to lose the element of surprise.

The Hydra, hearing the bumbling of the five of us following it, turned its head so the only good eye could see us, and it started to breathe fire, and I was pushed out of the way by Nico, who was the closest to me.

"Thanks Nico," I gasped out. The previous wounds that I had obtained from the Hydra were flaming in pain, and I felt like I was on fire. But instead of whining about it, I bucked up and stood up, grabbing onto the nearest tree as support.

When I stood up, I realized that the upper half of the trunk just above where I was holding onto was burned off.

The enormity of the situation hit me as I caught a sight of Percy's raven black hair behind the tree. "Percy! Take the eye out!" I shouted, and he came out from behind the tree, his eyes still burning with hatred, but he nodded at me, so I knew I could trust him.

I started to make a lot of noise, playing chicken with the twenty foot Hydra. Not exactly one of my best ideas, but improvising with a situation can turn out like that.

I tried not to be unfocused when Percy jumped on the Hydras back. When I saw one of the Hydra's heads turn towards him I was about to warn him, but out of nowhere, a rock went flying at the head, causing it to turn back to the five of us.

And breathe even more fire. _How surprising._

Percy started to make his way up to the head of the Hydra as I watched in awe at how poised he was, especially for a man in his position.

As fast as it took for him to crawl up there, he stabbed the monster in the eye. The Hydra obviously felt it, and started to vigorously shake its neck- the one that Percy was currently clinging to. I couldn't get myself to move while I watched in horror as Percy was flung off of the Hydra's neck, and went right at a tree.

I winced as he hit the tree at a fast speed and how he seemed to fall lifelessly. I swear my heart stopped when I saw him try to pick himself up, but only to fall back to the ground, limp. When the Hydra turned toward the noise of Percy hitting the tree, I was brought back to reality.

I started to throw whatever I could at the beast, my fingers digging into the wet floor of the forest. "Hey! Over here!" I yelled, throwing things, making as much noise as possible. "Look at me, you oaf!"

I cursed as the Hydra did indeed turn back over to us and it started to breathe fire in my direction. Diving out of the way, I was just barely able to miss being scorched to death.

The others started to join in, realizing that I was trying to keep the thing away from Percy. I immediately started in his direction, ignoring the stinging sensation that was emitting from my wound. "Percy!" I exclaimed when I realized just how bad off he was.

He had bruises and scratches all over his body, and a few of them were bleeding profusely. He was sitting up, leaning against the tree that he had just been thrown into, and he was holding his side in pain.

"Oh God, Percy," I breathed, kneeling down at his side.

He looked up at me. His eyes emitted a kind of ignorance that made my heart fall to my stomach. He still hated me. "I'm fine," He croaked. "The others need your help, Annabeth."

I gave him a look, trying to shake off the look that he was currently giving me. "Look Jackson, I'm going to help you, and you be damned if you think that you're okay. For heaven sakes, you can barely move!"

The glare he gave me in response was cool and un-Percy like.

"I don't care if you still hate me. I'm going to help you."

I took his hand off of his injury, and poked at the area. There were definitely broken ribs. I would know, because I have a habit of getting into sticky situations.

I was about to tell him the prognosis when he spoke up, "I know I have a few broken ribs, okay? None of which have punctured anything, because if they were I would be passed out by now."

He started to get up, but it was obvious the pain was too much for him. He started to wheeze just to get in a good breath, and his intake was fast and short. Even though he could barely breathe, the Seaweed Brain still tried to stand up.

Unconsciously I helped him up, taking hold of his forearms which were bruised from his fall. The rain showed no sympathy as it continued to come down in buckets. By now, all of our clothes looked like we had just taken a shower in them, and our hair was wet and matted down. My usually curly hair looked almost straight from the rain.

Once he was up and leaning against the tree, I took my hands away from his arms and put them at my sides. There wasn't much I could do now.

"We have to help the others, they can't keep stalling the Hydra for too long," I told him. He turned his stony glare to the ground, and ran a hand across his face, covering it with both mud and blood.

"We need to kill this thing," He spoke.

I looked at him, and saw that the hard look in his eyes was gone, and caught a glimpse of the old Percy. But just as quick as it came, it left, and was replaced by the same hateful stare that I have come to know.

"We need to lead it to the cliffs," I responded, ignoring his hard look.

A small smile crept its way on to Percy's face. "You better get everyone on the same page, Wise Girl."

He took off, with a quite noticeable limp, back into the fight. To be honest, I'd be a bit surprised if he hadn't.

"Hey! Over here you smelly bucket of nose drool!" Percy yelled, doing his best to turn the attention of the beast back to him. "Come at me, Ugly!"

The Hydra breathed fire in his direction and started to make its way over to where Percy was. He let out a curse when one of the lines of fire was a little too close to comfort, just hitting the side of his pant leg.

Let's just say that Percy was lucky that he was covered in mud, or he would have started on fire.

I ran over to where the others were taking cover behind a pile of fallen trees and looking on at Percy in awe. I knew that we didn't have a lot of time before Percy was going to be baked, so I took control.

"Percy had said something earlier about a cliff; do any of you happen to know where a cliff is?" I asked, my voice flowing with urgency.

Grover, Nico and Thalia all nodded. Grover spoke up, "Yeah, Percy and I saw them when we were deactivating the shark tracker," he spoke. "I know where they are, and I'm pretty sure Percy does to."

Our eyes turned to Nico and he was quick to explain, "Thalia and I almost took a wrong turn and fell off a cliff before we ran into the Hydra."

"Good, to make this work we're going to have to split up into three groups, and tag-team. Whoever the Hydra ends up following will have to play bait to get it to fall off the cliffs… it's going to be easier now that the thing is blind."

They nodded, and I continued, "The others have to cover the directions in case there's an error in the plan. Then, another group can get it to the cliffs. We have three chances… we're going to have to be precise and careful about this one."

"I'll go with Juniper," Grover volunteered, taking Juniper's hand.

"Nico and I can go with each other, I guess," Thalia said, throwing me a wink.

"That leaves Percy and I," I mumbled, then spoke louder, "we better get going before Percy gets fried."

They all nodded, and looked at each other. It was almost like saying good luck, but we all knew that even saying good luck might not be enough. I just settled for a nod.

Thalia started taking off into the forest, screaming and making noise with Nico following close behind her, not to be outdone. "Hey Ugly! Come and get me!"

The monster turned its heads away from Percy, and started to move toward Thalia and Nico. I got a good look at Percy, who looked absolutely exhausted. He was leaning up against a chard tree, and had a hand holding his side where he broke a few of his ribs. He looked in a lot of pain.

Grover and Juniper took off into the jungle, directing the attention of the Hydra, yet again, as Grover and Juniper pushed at the top of a dead tree, using just enough force for it to come toppling down. Of course that attracted the blind beast.

I ran over to where Percy was. "They're leading it to the cliffs, and we've got to go too! I'll explain the plan later!"

Percy said nothing as we started to run in the direction of the cliffs, throwing things to get the attention of the beast as it bulldozed its way through the forest after Grover and Juniper.

Soon, without much work, the Hydra started in our direction, breathing fire like the dragon creature it was. Percy and I were working to keep it from frying us to death. "The cliffs should be coming up any second now!" Percy shouted, dodging another line of fire.

"Great!"

As soon as we came to a clearing where the forest stopped, the cliff was right there. Just ten feet away from the edge of the forest was what seemed to be a thirty foot drop off. The rain seemed to be coming down even harder, too. The scene made a shiver go up my spine.

I knew we didn't have much time before the monster breached through the line of forest, because I could hear the roars and the trees falling, becoming victim to the Hydra.

"We need to be bait in order to lead it off the cliff," I spoke quickly. I hesitated for a second before speaking again, "And there's a very probable chance that we're going to die... so I want to say I'm sorry."

Percy's eyes widened. "Annabeth…"

The creature broke through the forest line, and we stood ready. There was no time for feelings, only action, now.

Percy and I called out insults at the beast, but it continued to breathe fire at us, not moving forward, which made me nervous. The plan wasn't working. I then realized the one glitch in my plan.

Someone had to jump off the cliff with it.

"Annabeth, help!"

I turned to see Percy, who had a panicked look on his face, and he ducked to the ground to narrowly miss a line of fire. I was confused until I saw his foot caught between two rocks.

"Percy!" I exclaimed, running toward him, falling to his side, desperately trying to free his foot from out of the rocks. I knew it was only a matter of time before the Hydra actually hit us with its fire, and we were both dead.

"It's not working, Percy," I stated the obvious. "I don't know what to say… I'm _so_ sorry, Seaweed Brain."

His eyes went wide as I pulled him in for a kiss, the first real kiss that we shared- and our last. I pulled away, and cupped his cheek with my hand, and gave him a small, genuine smile.

"I really _was_ looking forward to that date."

I pulled away from him, stood up, and prepared myself for what I had to do.

"Hey Ugly! Over here! Come on, you smelly bucket of nose drool! I bet I taste _real _good!" I started to pick up little things I could find, and threw them at the creature. Once I got its attention, it roared, breathed fire, and started to come toward me.

Once it got close enough to me, I started to run the length of the cliff. The sound of Percy's yells, crying out my name, begging to stop felt like a stab in my heart each time. It hurt me to hurt him like this.

"Annabeth! _No!_"

I went running to the end of the cliff, and I paused. The Hydra, as blind as it was, didn't know that I had stopped. I took one look back at Percy, who was clawing at the muddy ground, trying to free himself. His eyes looked wild, just like they had before. Standing there, I swear I could make out every single detail of him.

He was crying. His hair was sticking up in every direction, just like normal. His whole body was covered in both mud and blood.

He gave me one last look, his sea green eyes begging me to not jump. To not leave him. I saw him mouth my name, as he reached a hand out to me.

The little bit of my heart that had survived Percy and I's fallout was now broken.

The rain poured.

I turned away, and looked back at the Hydra that was only mere feet away, and screamed a last war cry before jumping off the cliff, followed by the Hydra, who let out a roar.

The last thing I remember was hitting the cool water below, and the sudden feeling of numbness.

_I'm so sorry, Percy._

**I have a feeling some of you are going to want an update real quick, right? Well, if you haven't noticed by now, I've been updating every week on the same day- Wednesday. But I'm willing to give a sneak peek- not to this story, but to another story that is in the works right now. Not Taken, even though I've finished that and I'll start updating for you guys soon enough- but my new story that will probably be up in a few months- **_**Hectate's Daughter**_**. So if you want a little sneak peek to that story, just review or PM "waffles", and I'll send it to you through the PMing device that fanfiction has been so nice to give us.**

**Tata for now,**

**GoGreen43**


	19. Reality

**Hehehehe… I left you with a real **_**Cliff **_**Hanger, didn't I? Muahahaha! Well, on the other hand, remember to Review**** or PM ****'waffles' to get a little sneak peek to the story I'm working on, Hecate's Daughter. As the title states, it's a story about a daughter of Hecate. Not just any ordinary camper, she is born to be a hero and save us all. (She and Percy have a lot in common)**

**~GoGreen43**

**Stranded- Chapter 19**

**Reality**

_**-Previously- **_

_**(Annabeth POV)**_

_The rain poured._

_I turned away, and looked back at the Hydra that was only mere feet away, and screamed a last war cry before jumping off the cliff, followed by the Hydra, who let out a roar._

_The last thing I remember was hitting the cool water below, and the sudden feeling of numbness._

I'm so sorry, Percy.

**-Percy POV-**

I stared in shock at the cliffs in front of me after I just witnessed the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Annabeth gave herself up to save me.

"_Annabeth! No, no, no! God no!"_

The yells that I let out in anger and desperation were drowned out by the sound of the tide hitting the rocky cliffs and the sound of the rain pouring down on the cold, hard ground

Sobbing, I started to claw at the ground, letting out a desperate cry of anger when the dirt just came up underneath my fingers after the rain had done its job in turning the dirt to mud. Annabeth needed me, and I was still stuck here.

I changed my approach, and started to claw at my ankle, trying to free my foot from between the rocks. My nails were straining from the pressure that I was putting them through, and I felt the top of my nail start to part from my skin.

But I needed to save Annabeth.

My ankle was torn to shreds from rubbing up against the rocks constantly. My nails were peeled back. I was covered in mud… and blood. And I still kept going, trying to free myself like my life depended on it. _ Because my life does depend on it._

Annabeth was my life now. And that part of me- that part of my heart that will always belong to her started to dissipate when the seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes kept on piling up. The logical part of my brain told me she couldn't have survived that fall, but my heart was begging for the logic to be wrong.

_Just this once. Please._

I was saying her name over and over, and I couldn't bring myself to stop. The very feeling of her name on my lips was like nectar from the gods. It was utterly addicting; and if I went without it, I was sure I would die.

I started to relive the moment she jumped off the cliff. The look in her eyes told me all I ever needed to know from her, and the fact that I knew that she did it for _me; _she jumped off the cliff to save _me_… it made the pain feel so much worse.

The one time I needed to be saved in my life, was the sudden death of who could have been the love of my life. I started to feel myself break down, and stop trying to free myself. It was utterly useless, _I _was utterly useless.

What kind of man couldn't save the woman he loved?

My muscles froze up and I collapsed to the ground. The grief weighed me down immensely, and I knew that the only person in the world who could have stopped this and relieve me of the pain was long gone by now.

_Annabeth…_

Words could never describe the pain that I felt. It was awful. Gut wrenching. Bile rising. I'm pretty sure I threw up until I had nothing left to give. Even then, I was dry heaving.

She couldn't be gone… not like that. Not right now.

It was almost as if I was going crazy, and there was no cure to the madness that I felt. I couldn't get myself to fully grasp the fact that she was gone, because it was Annabeth we were talking about. She could have been gone.

The universe just doesn't work that way.

By now I was only conscious of the rain falling onto my body and the sounds of the violent waves crashing up against the side of the cliff. Tears were streaming down my face, and my body was completely rendered useless against anything that could have happened… I lost the will to move on.

All of the sudden, my thoughts were cut off by a call, "Percy! Annabeth!"

I shrunk into the mud that surrounded me, closing my eyes. I didn't want to explain anything. I didn't want to talk to anyone unless they were Annabeth.

Other voices started to chime in, calling for both me and Annabeth. I almost wanted to yell at them to stop- so they couldn't remind me of what I just lost.

I started to gain feeling in my hands when I started to grab at the mud, trying to bury myself even deeper so I couldn't be seen. I wanted to die there, alone. No one could possibly change my mind about that. I just wanted to be with Annabeth again.

The voices started to get closer and the closer. The closer they got, the more feeling I started to gain back in my body. It was as if the will and strength of my friends was powering me as well. Their voices sounded frantic, as if they were panicking. Who would've thought that they would panic over the mere thought of one of us being injured? I wonder what might happen when they find out the truth about what had happened to Annabeth.

I closed my eyes tightly when I heard the others break through the forest line, and I started to breathe heavier and heavier with each gasp that emitted from the other's mouths.

It was as if they knew what happened.

"Percy!" someone exclaimed, and I heard the splashes that came from someone running through the mud. As the sounds got closer, my hands gripped the mud harder. I felt someone's hands on me, and I felt someone else's hands on my ankle.

I knew that I should've felt something, like a sting of pain, or anything… but I was too numb to feel the rawness of my ankle from rubbing up against the rocks.

It was then that I felt someone's hands on my cheeks. "Hey, hey Percy, come on, you got to wake up, okay?" I recognized the voice to be Thalia's.

"Oh man, this does not look good, Thals," another voice spoke. I knew it was Nico from how monotone it was. I didn't know what direction the voice came from… my head was reeling and I couldn't stop it.

"Percy? Come on, you gotta wake up, man!" Grover exclaimed.

Thalia started to slap my cheeks lightly and she put a hand on my forehead. "Guys, he's burning up."

"Where's Annabeth?" Juniper's soft voice tore through the chaos, bringing everyone to a pause. The tension was so thick I didn't have to see anyone to know that they were shocked.

Annabeth was gone.

"I-I don't know… Oh God…" Thalia's voice shook with emotion.

I couldn't bring myself to do anything. It was like weights were on my eyelids and a clasp was keeping my lips shut. The only thing that I could feel was my hands.

_And the rain._

"We have to get him out," Nico's calm voice spoke. His voice was like a switch that turned on and I everyone started to try to figure out what was wrong with me. Little did they know that the only thing that could help me now was gone forever.

I heard the sound of rock on rock, and I knew that I should probably be able to feel something… but I couldn't. I was too tired to care.

"He's out… now we just got to get him back to the beach," Grover spoke. There was a long pause before I started to feel weightless, and with that last thought, I drifted into a cold sea of black. I couldn't feel the rain anymore.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

It was black.

I didn't know what was going on, where I was, or what had happened. The last thing I remembered was boarding the plane to go to Ireland. I didn't know what had caused me to be in so much pain; both mentally and physically. All I knew was I was stuck in the black and I didn't know how to get out.

Suddenly I started to see a picture in the mist ahead of me.

It was me meeting Annabeth. How I sat down next to her, waiting to board the plane. She had been interested in what I was reading. I watched as she asked, _"Excuse me sir… but why are you reading that? Just curious is all…"_

I felt the giddy emotion flood through me as the blonde haired beauty spoke to me. I watched myself reply to her, _"I'm working on a project that relates to the Loch Ness Monster."_

The conversation almost seemed to fast forward as we introduced ourselves to each other. I couldn't help but wonder why my brain was broadcasting this to me… what made me meeting Annabeth so important?

"_Are you by any chance, Percy Jackson?"_

"_Yes I am… who are you?"_

"_Annabeth Chase, I'm an architect for AthenaDesignCO."_

I frowned at the emotions I felt at the sound of her name. Sure, it was pure giddiness… but there was some pain too. Why was that?

I watched as I met Thalia, Nico, Grover, and Juniper. Sure, I remembered that… but the thing I didn't remember is what had happened after I met them.

The plane we were on crashed.

"_Brace yourself for impact! Second engine is now down, we are going to crash!" _the pilot yelled over the intercom. I remember the sheer panic that ran through my veins, and then the protectiveness that soon followed when _"I remembered Annabeth sitting next to me. She wasn't screaming, her face was just full of tears, shock, anger, and most of all, fear."_

I remember yelling, _"Annabeth! Just close your eyes!"_

_People flew to the top of the plane. I knew they were dead, seeing how uselessy they flopped in the air. And their screams were gone. That is what scared me the most. _

I remember grabbing Annabeth and holding her against me as we crashed.

I looked on at the mist ahead of me in shock. The plane had crashed… and I remembered it now. Quickly, the scene changed from black to blue. I was looking up at the sky.

But Annabeth was nowhere to be found.

While looking for Annabeth, I found Grover, Juniper, Thalia, and Nico. Apparently the part of the plane that we were in was well protected, considering we were all alive, and survived with only a few scrapes, even though Nico and Juniper were out cold- they still were breathing and had a good heartbeat.

I watched as I started to call for Annabeth, and I felt the pure terror that I had felt once I saw Annabeth… swimming with a bunch of hungry sharks. It only takes one test bite before the others start to want to piece of her.

"_ANNABETH!"_

I saw my wide eyes as I looked at her, and watched as we bickered before I could come up with a plan. Thalia and Grover ended up creating a distraction while Annabeth swam to a loose piece of the plane.

I remember the feeling of relief. That was the most immense part of it all.

But the pain in my gut, the raw feeling of loss was still there. What was wrong with me?

I watched intensely at the mist as we all got to an island. I laughed a bit when they made me go to sleep, and at the irony as I watched my own life like some sort of movie. It could probably be a box office hit, if I do say so myself.

I witnessed as we all settled in on the island and never gave up hope on getting off. The feelings for Annabeth were still there, and I started to have the feeling that they would never go away… along with that feeling of immense sadness.

The scenes that didn't have Annabeth in it seemed to be in flash forward, for some reason… she must be important for some reason.

Suddenly, a chill went up my spine, and I watched as my head snapped up in the mist to hear Annabeth's scream. It was probably the worst sound in the history of the world.

I watched myself run to get to her, and I silently prayed that I got to her in time. If this was real… if this happened… I don't know what I would do without her.

"_Percy! Thalia! Juniper! We need help!"_

"_Help us!"_

I watched in horror as I ran to where the voices were coming from, and I saw what they were leaning over.

_Annabeth was unconscious. She had three deep scratches on her body. One was across her forehead, another on her chest, and the last one just below her ribcage._

I watched desperately as I spoke to her, _"Annabeth wake up… Come on Annabeth, don't give up on us… Annabeth please!"_

I started to feel a different kind of pain, the pain that I could possibly lose a loved one. But the pain that had been sticking with me through the whole time was different… it was almost worse in a way.

I watched as Annabeth was carted off to the make shift hut, and Thalia got to work on her. I remember praying to any god that would listen to me. She had to be okay.

I was blanked out as I watched as I was full of guilt over what had happened to Annabeth. I got fresh water, brought it back, and talked to Thalia about my feelings. It was then that I knew I was head over heels for Annabeth chase. I smiled when I watched myself, but frowned when I realized exactly what kind of condition Annabeth was in.

I prayed for her to be okay.

Soon, I watched as I witnessed Annabeth squeeze my hand, and my begging after that for it to truly be her. I was begging for her to be okay.

Angst flooded my emotions… but as always, the pain was still there.

When she opened her eyes, it was like a freaking rainbow after a storm. It was beautiful.

I watched as I proclaimed my feelings to her, and I watched as she did the same to me. A smile graced my face when I saw the agreement between the two of us of the date that we would have after this was all over and we were saved.

The scene fast forwarded again as Annabeth and I was with the others and I figured out a way to get off the island. The shark trackers. Mentally, I cursed myself for not realizing it sooner.

Well, apparently Grover and I got to the shark tracker, and after a lot of worry that he had drifted away, Grover had come through for me in the end. He was a good friend.

The next thing I saw was Annabeth and I talking. I had to strain my ears to hear what we were saying.

"_What's wrong, Percy?"_

"_Annabeth, for a second there…" my somber voice trailed off. "Annabeth, I thought you were dead, okay? And that was probably the worst feeling ever, considering I was the one who told you to stay there… but please, just don't do anything that could get you hurt. I don't think I could bare it if you pulled a stunt like that again."_

I saw Annabeth's eyes narrow, and I knew that that probably wasn't the best thing to tell her. But boy is that girl a danger magnet. How many times has she been close to death over the past month? _Too many._

"_What stunt? I wasn't even in there! Besides, if I didn't stop that thing, it would've destroyed this whole beach and kill all of us!"_

My response haunted me. _"Look, if you want to ignore this, then go ahead. But don't come crying to me the next time you get hurt. You know what? Forget that date. If you don't care about my feelings, or about what I think, dating would be a complete disaster."_

Watching it all happen, I had to close my eyes after I saw the immediate hurt in Annabeth's eyes. I saw her cover it up quickly, but I knew that the hurt was still there.

I pretty much just witnessed the most epic screw-up on my part of all time.

I tried to avoid the scenes in the mist, until I saw myself chase after a Hydra. Which was the second most stupid thing I've ever done, after breaking Annabeth's heart, of course.

I watched as Annabeth tried to help me, and I followed her plan and ran with her into the woods with the Hydra chasing after us.

But the next thing that happened shocked me to my core, and ignited the pain once again. Now I know why it was there.

_I watched Annabeth die. _

_She died for me… she loved me._

The pain was far more intense now, and as the mist faded to black, I fell to my knees, in shock of what I had just seen. I remembered it all now. I knew I could never forget it.

But my friends needed me.

I had to be strong for them, as Annabeth was for me. I could see that now.

And with that conclusion, I fell back into the depths of my mind.

The next thing I remembered was the feeling of pressure and pain. I couldn't move my body, and it was as if I was being held prisoner in my own body. But for some reason, the only thing that I could consciously feel was the pain from losing _her._

I now know that it happened… it was real. The feeling of depression hit me like a wall, and I didn't know what I was supposed to do now. Annabeth was gone, and I was completely useless… but I had to live for her. I had to help my friends for _her. _I couldn't let her die in vain.

It was the voices that started bring me back to reality.

"I can't believe it… Annabeth's gone," a solemn voice choked out.

"Why did it have to be her?" another voice sobbed.

"No wonder Percy was in that state," a huskier voice mumbled.

"He's broken beyond repair," the first voice spoke. I recognized it to be Thalia.

"We just have to be there for him," Grover's voice boldly stated. The silence after that was deafening, and I started to hear someone start to sob. The tone was light, so I assumed it to be Juniper.

"What are we going to do?" Thalia spoke. The sound of her voice cut through the tension like a knife. That was probably the question on everyone's mind. Hell, that's the question that was running through my head.

_What are we going to do without Annabeth?_

For some reason I think that question will forever remain unanswered. It was the simple course of reality... we will never know what to do about it.

Nico's voice echoed my thoughts. "I don't know, Thals. I don't know."

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Time passed slowly until I was able to move something. I could hear my friends come and go, but my body was still in shock over what happened. I was in a dire need of a break.

But I had to help my friends. Sure, I was like what Thalia had said, "broken beyond repair", but these are my friends. They lost Annabeth too. And if I can help them for Annabeth… maybe I'll be able to live with myself for what happened.

I know that Annabeth would like that.

When Thalia was sitting with me, in what I knew to be a canopy to the side of one of the palm trees, I was testing out my mobility.

And I could surprisingly move… even if it was just a little twitch of my hand. That surprisingly hurt. If Thalia didn't see my hand twitch, she definitely heard my moan in pain at the cramping sensation in my hand that started to crawl up my arm.

I heard a gasp, and felt to hand at my cheeks. "Percy? Are you awake?"

In response, I was able to just crack my eyes open and crack a small smile at her. "Hi Thalia."

She started to laugh, and she called the others in proclaiming that I was awake. Let's just say that it didn't take long for the others to be right in my face, asking all kinds of questions to see if I was okay.

I knew I wasn't, but I nodded my head in response, anyways. Annabeth was gone, and I know that I'll never really be okay again. Oddly after just knowing her for a month, I couldn't really imagine my life without her. And I'm going to have to live it, now.

"Guys, give him space," Juniper scolded, yanking Grover's collar, causing to go flying back. She must've gained some muscle when I was out.

"Percy… do you remember everything that happened?" Thalia asked, her voice soft, her eyes searching mine for answers. I knew me know verses me the last time I was conscious are two different people.

But I just got stronger, is all… even though I couldn't stop a few tears from making their way from my eyes. I quickly wiped them away, and gave her a small, sad smile. "Yeah. I remember everything."

It seemed that everyone let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. "Are you… okay, though?" Nico asked, giving me an odd look.

I closed my eyes and told them the truth, even though they probably could've guessed it by the pained look on my face. "No. I'm really not okay. But neither are any of you."

It was true, and the look on their faces after I said that pretty much broadcasted what I already knew. Annabeth being gone really affected them, too.

"But we didn't know Annabeth like you did…" Thalia's voice droned off, choking a little bit at the end.

"Maybe not, but if I know something about Annabeth, she wouldn't want us to be so destroyed about her death. She would want us to get through it."

A look of understanding dawned on their faces. They knew I was being strong for _her. _They knew I had no other choice.

We all sat in silence for a while, probably thinking about Annabeth. I couldn't bring myself to think about her, though, and I realized something that was different from the last time I was awake.

"It's not raining anymore."

A small smile graced Thalia's lips. "Yeah, the rain stopped after we were able to get you secure under the canopy."

I gave her a grateful smile, and also directed it at the others. "Thank you for that, by the way."

They smiled at me, "No problem."

Soon after I woke up, things got back to normal… or as normal as they'll ever get. I'll admit, I have been spending some time alone a lot more than I've gotten used to. Usually Annabeth and I would do stuff together, but now… she's not here anymore.

I stood at the seashore, the small waves just barely hitting my feet as they made their way to the shore. I remembered when Annabeth waited for me. She waited for me to come back safe. I remember the worried look on her face, probably from the rain. Of course, Juniper was there with her… but I only had eyes for the blonde haired beauty.

_My Wise Girl._

The sound of a ship's horn caught me off guard, and my head shot up at the horizon.

Sure enough, there was a large ship coming toward us. _Beckendorf came through after all. _I smiled as the others, having heard the horn as well, came running to the shore, and started to go crazy, and in all of the hysteria, I felt alone.

The one person that I really wanted with me wasn't here.

She was gone.

It all seemed to happen in a blur, as a small speedboat came from the ship toward the island. I couldn't help but smile. We survived. We actually survived.

Once the small speedboat came to shore, the man who was driving it introduced himself as Tyson, and quickly ushered us on to the boat. But before I got on there, I quickly took a small sea shell and clasped it into my hand. Just something to remember this place by.

_I will never forget you, Annabeth,_ I thought as the speedboat glided away from the island.

A single tear ran down from my eye, and I turned away from the island to never look back.

Getting on the boat was a blur. As was waiting for the course back home to be set. We were going to wherever they came from and flying back home. Thalia threw a fit, but after figuring out that if you're in one plane crash, you will probably never be on another, she hesitantly agreed with the plan to get back home.

It was all just bittersweet for me.

After an hour, the captain made their way to where we were waiting, and introduced himself. He was Hispanic, a bit elfish looking, and had this cocky grin on his face as he made his way to us. "I'm Captain Valdez. But please, call me Leo. Only the crew has to call me Captain."

He shook all of our hands, shaking mine last. He looked at me oddly before his grin grew even wider. Which I didn't think was even possible. "You're Percy Jackson, marine biologist, huh?"

I nodded, letting my hand drop from his.

"Wow, I thought you would be taller. But anyways, I have someone that would like to see you. Can you come with me?"

I looked at him confused. "Just me?"

Leo nodded. "That's what they told me. I'm sure you guys will be needed soon as well… but I owe someone a favor, and I intend to follow through on their request."

I looked at the others, who shared confused looks on their faces. I shrugged them before following Leo deeper into the ship.

Soon, we came up to a door, and Leo suddenly stopped. "Look, the person behind this door… I owe them my life. Just be careful, okay?"

My eyebrows furrowed, but I nodded anyway. Leo through me a smile and wink before he turned to walk away. "Wait! Where are you going?"

Leo turned back to me, but continued to walk backwards. "You'll thank me later!"

I looked at him in shock as he continued to walk away, disappearing to go back where we came from. "Okay?"

I took a deep breath, staring at the door. _Wonder who's behind it. _I gave a few hard knocks, and waited. No one answered the door or said anything, so I did it again, and I got the same results. _Was this some sort of prank?_

Suddenly a chill went down my spine.

"Thought you could get rid of me that easily?"

I froze up. _That voice… _

Slowly, ever so slowly, I turned around, to be face to face with…

"_Annabeth."_

She looked at me, her gray eyes twinkling with excitement. She looked pretty banged up, but she was right in front of me.

Annabeth was alive, in front of me.

_Annabeth was alive._

"Percy, close your mouth. You'll catch flies," her voice shook, and tears started to come to her eyes. I knew they were from pure joy because of the beautiful smile that appeared on her face.

In response, I ran to her, gathering her up in my arms, one of my hands going to her hair and another wrapped around her waist. We were as close as ever, and she still wasn't close enough to me.

"Oh my God, you're alive," I choked, tears streaming down my face. I buried my head in her neck, and she buried hers into my shoulder.

"I know, God, I know, Percy."

We stood like that for what felt like hours. "Annabeth… I love you."

There was a shocked silence. I got a little worried that she had changed her mind about me, but the worry was soon cut off when she responded, "I love you too, Percy."

That was when I looked down and stared into her eyes, her beautiful gray eyes, before pulling her in for a kiss, which in my opinion was the best kiss of all time.

After all the emotions somewhat calmed down, Annabeth brought me to her room, where Leo had initially led me to. We laid next to each other on the bed; or rather Annabeth let her head rest on my chest and my arms wrapped around her body.

"Never do that to me again," I rasped as I kissed her hair. I still couldn't believe she was actually here. With me. She was alive.

"Not planning too, Seaweed Brain."

My lips formed into a smile at the sound of her say my nick name. _Seaweed Brain. _It was with that, her calling me by my nickname, for me to know that I was okay. I was okay now. My Wise Girl was with me once again.

But one thought brought me back to reality.

"How are you even alive? I saw you fall off that cliff, Annabeth."

She sighed, and started to draw soft circles with her thumb on my shoulder before speaking, "After I jumped, I was able to swim to the shark buoy, which by some stroke of luck was only about two hundred feet away. I held on, Percy. I held on and prayed that someone would find me.

"Leo did, though. He saw me, even in the rain, and saved me. The ship's first aid cabin was able to heal me right up. Thank God for that. When he told me that he found you guys, it made all of the pain worth it though, I guess. I'm happy I did what I did. I'm sorry for letting you think I died."

I looked down at the angel in my arms, and smiled.

"I'm just glad you're okay. I'm sorry, too."

"What for?"

"I'm sorry for letting you think that I hated you. I was being a stubborn idiot, and I'm sorry."

Annabeth laughed against my chest, and even through my embarrassment at her laughing, I never felt so good in my entire life.

"God, Seaweed Brain. I forgave you a long time ago. No need to be sorry. We all have our moments," she paused before continuing. "Even though some moments are uglier than others."

I started to laugh, and said, "Hey now, you have your moments, too."

"Oh do I now?"

I buried my face in her hair and nodded. "Yes, you do, Wise Girl. But that's exactly why I love you."

We cuddled in silence, something that I never thought I would ever do. But I did, and it felt _right. _It felt like Annabeth and I were always supposed to be with each other.

I remembered something that we had agreed on while we were on the island, and I smiled a bit before speaking, "Annabeth?"

"Yes Percy?"

"I believe you owe me a date."

I started to laugh when she hit my chest softly before mumbling, "You're such a Seaweed Brain."

I felt as she dozed off on my chest, and before I was out as well, I remember thinking, _reality couldn't be more wonderful._

**So… how do you like the turn of events? I liked them, but you might have a different point of view. So… Review! And PM! And this isn't the end of the story, I'll tell you. But the end is near! Haha! Two more chapters left ****ADD GOGREEN43**

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	20. Home

**Hey, its GoGreen43 here! I just got a new surface for Christmas, and I'm super excited to get typing! Even though it's going to take a while to get used to this keyboard… anyways, I hope you all are having a happy holidays!**

**Stranded**

**Chapter 20- Home**

**-Piper POV-**

The past few days everyone at the office has been worried sick. None of us were able to get into contact with Leo or his trade network to see where he was. All we could do was watch the storm system rip through the islands and wait.

I just hope they're all alright.

Beckendorf finally went home to visit his wife and kids and checked up on the lab. The other groups of families weren't made aware about our breakthrough in finding the missing people, so Beckendorf had to keep it all on the down-low.

I had to keep it on the "down-low," too. My boss was hard to handle, especially because I couldn't be direct about anything. And as the days went on without any contact, the possibility that Annabeth and the other missing people survived kept on getting slimmer, and slimmer.

But even though our anxiety could be enough to admit us to a hospital, Jason and I returned to work. My coworkers seemed to go on with their lives seamlessly. I could barely look across the hall at her office. The empty office that was once the heart of the company didn't seem to haunt anyone besides myself and Malcolm, one of Annabeth's most trusted friends.

I felt like they all secretly wanted her to be gone so that they could take on the bigger jobs. But in all honesty, the bigger jobs won't be coming around for this company if Annabeth is gone. If she wanted to, she could start her own architectural firm and even make more than she does here- and quite possibly run us out of business.

_But you can't expect these egotistical jackasses to think that way. They only think for themselves. Pathetic._

Jason, on the other hand, has been trying to keep his mother from taking Thalia's stuff. The stories that he's told me about his mother makes me want to puke. She was a drunk, leaving Thalia to raise her younger brother by a measly five years.

_A five year old raising a newborn. What kind of parent would let that happen?_

I can't imagine ever having to do _that_… But then again, I don't have any siblings. Must be some sort of older sister instincts, or something. Yet, in the end, Jason and Thalia are supposed to be like peanut butter and jelly. In other words- they're really close.

_I'd love to meet her._

I sighed and looked at the picture of Annabeth and I on my desk, then looked up again to see that empty office across from mine. I hoped that they all make it back alright. I don't know what I would do if they didn't.

"Hey Piper, do you by any chance have the dimensions for that stadium I'm working on?"

My head snapped up to see a man with dirty blonde curly hair, and grey eyes. "Oh, hi, Malcolm. Just let me check for a second…"

My face must have looked a little flustered because he was hiding a smirk. He knew he caught me daydreaming again.

"Here it is," I said, pulling a thick folder out of the shelf. "How is this going, by the way?"

Malcolm gave me a small smile and took the folder out of my hand. "It's going, I guess. It's odd not having Annabeth around. With her helping me on this, I'm sure that I would've had this completed ages ago. I just feel like I have no desire to do this anymore, you know?"

I nodded my head and took a deep breath, trying to keep myself from tearing up in front of him.

"With Annabeth around, I never worked a day in my life," he continued. "It felt like every day I came here it was a whole different adventure. She taught me things my professors probably would never understand… and now with her gone? I don't know what to do anymore."

"You and me both."

I took a deep sigh and sat back down in my chair. I gestured for him to sit, and he just looked at me sheepishly. "Are we playing therapist now?"

I just playfully scowled at him and he sat down, resting the folder softly on his lap.

Training my eyes on my hands, I spoke, "I feel like I need to tell you something Malcolm. I don't want to get your hopes up, but at the same time I feel like you need some hope."

Sparing him a quick glance, I saw that the playfulness on his face was gone, replaced by a grave look that I have only seen once before.

"When I was out of the office for a month, it wasn't because I was grieving. I was looking for Annabeth. You see, her and five others' bodies were never accounted for. They were all sitting in the same section, and there was reason to believe that they had survived and taken refuge somewhere else. After looking for almost month, four days ago we were given a sign that tells us that they could be alive, and now Leo Valdez is sailing out to retrieve them in a middle of a massive storm system."

The look on his face was priceless. I honestly couldn't blame him, this was a lot to take in. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was humourously shaped like and 'O'.

"Wow."

I nodded, drinking in his response. He didn't seem to be freaking out or anything, not that I really expected him to be, but you can never be too sure.

"So you're telling me that Annabeth could possibly be alive?"

I nodded.

"And that Leo Fucking Valdez is going to attempt to save her?"

I nodded again, trying not to smile at Leo's name.

"That changes things."

I nodded.

"Are you just going to keep nodding or something?"

"Or something. Anyway, I need you to keep quiet about this, okay? The reason I told you not to get your hopes up was because this isn't necessarily a proven thing. We don't know who or what set off the beacon, just that the only person who could is also missing and sat right next to Annabeth."

Malcolm nodded, and slumped back into his chair. "Who was sitting next to Annabeth?"

"I think his name was Percy Jackson."

Malcolm's eyes widened. "_The _Percy Jackson? The guy from the TV show that travels around the world, solving mysteries that have never been solved, much less, attempted to be solved?"

I felt my eyes widen as he got more excited. "Are you a fan, or something?"

"Or something."

I laughed and leaned back into my chair. "Why is Percy Jackson such a big deal, though?"

Malcolm had a far-away look in his eyes as he spoke, "He's trained in survival, Piper. If Annabeth and him are with each other, I doubt nothing could stop them. I just have a good feeling about it, you know?"

His gray eyes were filled with hope and pride. He believed in what he was saying, so I should to. I couldn't help but nod back in response.

Malcolm's smile widened even more (if that were possible), and he stood up from his chair. "Well, I better get going with these dimensions. The boss will have my ass if I don't get this done on time."

"Of course, Malcolm. Don't let the door hit you on your way out!"

He glared at me, still unable to keep that smile off of his face, and walked out. I could barely contain my laughter until he was out the door.

**-Annabeth POV-**

I woke up to a scream. I guess it's not the most pleasant way to wake someone up, but once I heard someone scream I can guarantee you that I will not be going back to sleep anytime soon.

On instinct, I shot up straight, but something kept me from sitting up all the way. I let out a little scream in shock, not really registering what, or rather whom, was holding me down. I tried to get away from the heavy weight on my chest, and ended up falling off of the bed.

"Owe!"

"Oh my God!"

"You didn't need to scream, Thalia!"

"You don't need to yell at me, Nico!"

"That's _Annabeth!"_

"Annabeth, are you okay?"

When I finally got myself out of the sheets and looked around, I saw a pair of sea green eyes looking down at me in concern.

I heard other people walk around to where I was laying and I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment. I could barely move in the cocoon of sheets I was wrapped up in, and quite frankly, the people who didn't know I was alive were too shocked to move. _Not that I can blame them, really. _

Percy, sensing my distress, came to the rescue and got out of bed to help me up. His face was just as red as mine. He probably thought that they were shocked to find us together… sleeping in bed. But I had a feeling that they were just shocked because, according to Percy, they thought I was dead.

Figuring out someone who was supposed to be dead is alive would probably shock anyone.

The room was silent as he helped me get out of the sheets. I don't think he really helped the whole 'elephant in the room' by giving me a soft kiss on the lips after helping me up.

"Good morning," he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Personally, I wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning if he always did that. I was on cloud nine.

Instead of being all day-dreamy and acting like how I was feeling, I moved him away from me so that I could see the others. To say that I missed them was an understatement. Even though it _had_ been a few days, it didn't feel right going through a near death experience without them.

As soon as I gave them a sheepish smile, the tension dispersed and I was attacked by four people fighting to give me a hug.

I felt a few tears fall down my cheeks when I saw that Juniper and Thalia were bawling, while Nico and Grover had obvious tears in their eyes. I felt like I was with my family, and I never wanted to leave them ever again.

"Annabeth, never do that to us again," Thalia cried. "I don't think I would be able to take it."

"If you make me think that you died ever again, I swear I will kill you," Juniper sobbed. "You and Thalia are like sisters to me."

"Guys, I don't think I could handle doing that again. Don't worry about that! I'm just glad to be with you all right now."

Percy's voice from behind me, "No more trying to be the hero, okay?"

I turned my head to look at him. He was crying. I threw a sloppy smile and spoke, "I can't promise such a thing, Seaweed Brain."

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Once everybody started to settle down, we all moved out of the bedroom and found ourselves in the dining hall, which was more like a social hall with the living space next to all the tables where people eat. Percy awkwardly made himself at home and sat down on one of the comfier chairs, pulling me down with him.

_The awkward part was that he was eating food, too._

Grover and Juniper were sitting similar to how we were, but Juniper wasn't on Grover's lap. Thalia and Nico were in their own chairs, and I let out a sigh at that. I had a feeling that they could only be friends when I met them… they are too alike to be in a relationship.

"So, I take it that you're together, now?" Thalia asked, a knowing smile gracing her face.

Percy gripped my hand in response, and I looked up at him to see that he was just as blissed out as I was. He seemed a lot more easy going than he was on the island. The worry lines on his face were gone, and his smile seemed to be more mischievous.

_What exactly did I get myself into?_

"Yes, we are finally together now. Near death experiences can do that to people," I joked. I felt Percy tense up against me, and the grip on his hand tightened. The others in the room had a similar response.

"Look, we're going to have to talk about this. You all thought I was dead. I nearly died when I jumped off that cliff. It happened. You guys can't keep putting your feelings off about this."

Thalia glared, moving in her chair so she could look at me with that cold stare. "Putting my feelings off? I was mad at you for jumping off that cliff, Annabeth. I was mad that you made that decision even though you knew that you were going to leave us forever. I was mad that you left Percy in the state that he was in. I was sure that he wasn't going to survive your death, and I'm still mad that you were so selfish to just leave us like that."

I nodded. A ton of emotions were stringing through me, but I just had to have some acceptance. I didn't know how bad it must have been when I left, but it must've been _very _bad.

Thalia just shook her head and continued, "Why are you so fucking selfish, Annabeth? You have no right to leave us like that. And to leave Percy in the state he was in? Who do you think you are? He could barely comprehend what was going on around him-"

"That's enough, Thalia," Percy's choked voice sounded from behind me. "She doesn't need to hear this."

"No, she needs to hear this, Percy! She needs to know how broken you were! She needs to know how broken we _all _were!"

I put a hand on Percy's knee. "She's right. I need to hear this."

Thalia turned her glare back to me and growled, "Damn straight. As I said before, he could barely comprehend what was going on around him, his fucking foot was stuck in a rock, and when the pain got to be too bad, he passed out. He passed out, Annabeth! And when he woke up he was so fucking strong. He was strong for us. Because we lost you too, and he knew that we couldn't lose him after that."

I felt tears streaming down my face, and I tried to take a deep breath to compose myself. "Anyone else want to speak their mind?"

Looking around the room, no one was very verbal until Nico shook his head and said, "Thalia pretty much covered it for me."

My lips formed a straight line and I nodded at him. "So are you guys done being mad at me now? I know I must sound pretty bitchy, but I have to speak my mind as well."

I felt Percy's hands move to hair where they played with my curls. He knew that it relaxed me, but not much was going to help my blood pressure, now. It was time to tell my story as to what had happened… reliving one of the scariest moments of my life.

"When Percy and I were about to go and play chicken with the Hydra, I apologized to him. After you all thought I was in the hut when it burst into flames and rubble, Percy and I got into a fight, and we decided that we had nothing in common-"

"Which was my fault, you know."

"Shut up Seaweed Brain. Anyways, he hated me, I had mixed feelings for him-"

"I didn't hate you, I could never hate you, Wise Girl."

"Percy... If you don't stop, I'm going to kill you."

"Sorry."

"Okay, so I apologized, and we didn't have time to say anything else before the Hydra burst through the tree line and all chaos broke out. Percy ended up getting his foot caught in the rock, and he looked so scared. I had to keep the Hydra off our backs and free Percy at the same time… my mind was going into over load."

_"Annabeth, help!"_

_"Percy!"_

"The attempts to get him out of the rocks was useless. We were dodging the lines of fire, and I wasn't going to leave him to burn alive. Hell, if we weren't covered in mud, and if it wasn't raining, then we probably would have been burned alive. Ultimately, I figured out that my initial plan to run the Hydra off the cliffs wasn't going to work. I couldn't let him die, he had so much more to live for than I did… which _was _pretty selfish, I guess."

_"It's not working Percy. I don't know what to say… I'm so sorry, Seaweed Brain."_

_"I really was looking forward to that date."_

"I figured that someone was going to have to run off the cliffs with it, and there wasn't any time to make and precautions to keep that person safe. Which would have been simple, I guess. But I had to work with what I had. I had Percy stuck in the rocks, and a blood crazy Hydra trying to kill us. I had to act fast, so, I did. I played bait and ran off the cliffs, making the blind Hydra follow me."

_"Hey Ugly! Over here! Come on, you smelly bucket of nose drool! I bet I taste real good!"_

_"Annabeth! No!"_

_I'm so sorry, Percy._

"Once I jumped off the cliffs, somehow I survived the impact and shock from the water. I swam to the shark buoy which was only a few hundred feet away, and I held on for dear life. I was about to give up when Leo found me, and brought me on the boat. Here, I was able to get medical treatment for my wounds, and rest."

_"Annabeth! Oh my God! Get her to the Medical Ward, now!"_

_"You're going to be okay, Bethy. I promise."_

"Then, you guys came on this boat, I heard about it and asked to see Percy. We had our little reunion, got back together, and fell asleep on my bed. You guys know the rest."

Everyone was shocked to silence. Even Percy didn't know the details of everything, so when he finally shut up he was pretty shocked to listen to what was going through my head.

Thalia stood up and walked over to me. She pulled me out of Percy's lap and into a hug. "I was wrong. You're not selfish… not even close. You're a hero."

The rest of the day was spent in the company of my friends. We hugged, cried, remembered, and yes, Percy and I kissed. A lot. But you don't need to know those details.

But I figured I had a phone call to make.

**-Piper POV-**

After work, I went home and made dinner. Jason was coming over, and I had to make sure had food. Let's just say when Jason's hungry you don't want him to be around you. Calling him a big baby is an understatement.

I decided to go quick and easy, so I decided to make spaghetti. I warmed up some ground beef and spaghetti sauce, then I made the noodles. When the noodles were softening, I heard the door open.

"Honey I'm home!"

I laughed and turned to see Jason walk in the kitchen. He put his keys on the table and walked up to me, placing a soft kiss on my lips. "I knew it was a bad idea giving you that key."

Laughing, he replied, "Oh, so you regret giving me a key to your apartment? Why would you regret such a thing?"

"Oh, I don't know… maybe because you have a bad habit to abuse your power?"

He gave me a sheepish smile before looking over my shoulder to see the food cooking. "I think that you're probably the best girlfriend of all time."

I moved away from him to grab a bottle of wine, and poured it into the two wine glasses. "You better not forget it."

He took one of the glasses from my hands and smiled. "I'll never forget it."

"You're turning into a sap, Grace. What have I done?"

He laughed, and took a sip of wine. "You're domesticating me, McLean."

"Oh, so we're playing that game now?"

"You started it, you know."

"Oh shut up."

Jason ended up moving to sit at the bar that overlooks the kitchen and provides me more counter space when I have guests come over. He watched me cook, and I glared at him the whole time.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and set the table?" I asked while draining the noodles. "The tableware and plates are on the counter."

"If they're on the counter why didn't you just set the table yourself?"

"I made sure you had something to do. You get annoying when you're bored."

He made sure he made a scene when he dramatically got up from the bar and walked to the other side of the room to grab the tableware and plates. He playfully glared at me when he grabbed them, and I gave him a sweet smile right back.

When the spaghetti was ready, I brought it to the dining table and dished up the two plates. I knew that he ate more than I did, so I gave him the heavier portion. Also, walking back to the kitchen, I grabbed the greens and the fruit for our meal.

"Seriously? Broccoli? What am I, a little kid?"

I glared at him and said, "Well you should stop acting like it."

"Touché."

Without thinking, I asked, "How did Thalia ever put up with you?"

His fork stopped halfway to his mouth, and I processed what I just said. "Oh, Jason, I'm sorry, I spoke without thinking and-"

"Don't worry about it, Piper." He took a bite of his food and after chewing gave me a small smile. "That's actually a good point… I was a pain in the ass when I was younger."

I laughed. "Weren't we all?"

He gave a small smile and the rest of the meal was spent in a comfortable silence. I was just glad that we were together, and that was that. Nothing really to it.

The silence was cut off with the sound of my cell phone going off. I cursed myself for leaving it on, knowing that it was probably just someone from the office calling me to complain about something I did, or to complain about something Malcolm did. Either way, it was always complaining.

"Excuse me for a second," I spoke, an overly-annoyed look on my face.

Jason just laughed as I got up from the table and answered my phone. I moved into the kitchen to gain some privacy, but knowing Jason, I probably wasn't going to get it. Ever since we got together, he was constantly hovering over me, like the overprotective boyfriend he is. But strangely, I didn't mind.

Smiling like a maniac, I spoke into the phone, "Hello?"

_"Piper?" _

I knew that voice. That was one of my best friends. She was gone for over a month. I thought she was dead.

"A-Annabeth?"

I heard a light laugh on the other end of the phone, and that's when I lost it. _"Yeah, Piper. It's me."_

"Oh my God… oh my God! It's you! It really _is _you! Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay!"

_"I'm fine, Pipes. But boy do I have a story to tell you! How are you? How's the office?" _I was shocked to silence. This was Annabeth. She was alive.

She was _alive._

_"Uh… Piper? You there?"_

"Piper are you okay?" I turned around to see a worried looking Jason. I can't blame him, though. I was crying, and my mascara was probably running, making me look like I should belong in a loony bin.

"Oh, I'm fine. We're all fine. You just have to come home, you hear me? Come home." My voice shook as I spoke, and I knew Annabeth heard it from the hard intake of breath on the end of the line.

"Piper? Who are you talking to?" Jason asked, his voice at a mere whisper.

"Annabeth. I'm talking to Annabeth."

_"Who is that you're speaking to, Piper?"_

"Hold on for a second, Jason," I told him. "Annabeth, Jason Grace is my boyfriend."

I heard a squeal at the end of the line, and I was shocked- Annabeth Chase never squealed before. _"Is Jason by any chance related to Thalia Grace?"_

I gasped. "Is she there? With you?"

_"Yeah. She's okay, too. They all are."_

"All as in…"

_"All as in Thalia Grace, Nico Di'Angelo, Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, Juniper Busche, and I."_

"Holy shit! I'm putting you on speaker!"

_"Okay." _Her voice echoed throughout the room as I pressed the speaker button.

"We can hear you loud and clear, Annabeth."

_"Good. Can Jason hear me?"_

Jason looked at me, wide eyed and curious. "Yes, I'm here. How are you, Annabeth? I've heard a lot _about you from Piper, here."_

I heard another soft laugh play on the other end of the phone. _"All good, I hope. Anyways, you're related to Thalia Grace, right?"_

He looked at me, tears in his stormy blue eyes. "Y-Yes. She's my sister."

I heard soft talking on the other end of the phone, and the sound of a sob coming from the end of the line. "_Jason? Is that you?" _The voice changed, and it was no longer Annabeth we were talking to. But I had a feeling I knew who it was.

Jason looked down at the phone, tears streaming from his eyes. I walked over to where he was and gave him a soft hug. "I'm right here, Thals."

_"Good God, Jason! How have you been? Has mom been treating you right? Are you okay?"_

We both let out a laugh at her over-protectiveness. "I think I should be asking you if you're okay, Thals. I thought you were dead, you know. But you're alive and coming back home, right?"

_"Of course. I'm fine, and I know how you feel. By the way… I heard you're with Annabeth's friend, Piper, is it?"_

"Yeah. And she's amazing Thalia."

_"Glad to hear you're happy. I can't wait to see you again. Well, we all have to go now- we're getting on a plane to get back to New York through Valdez's airport. Piper should know where that is… the plane is supposed to land at eight pm, sharp. See you then!"_

"Love you Thalia."

_"Love you too, kiddo."_

As soon as the phone cut off, we called everybody. And as in everybody, I mean _everybody. _Jason called the National Guard just to tell them they were wrong (they weren't too happy about that), and I called Katie and Travis to tell them that they were right. I also called Beckendorf to thank him and to let him know that Percy was alive.

We were all happy, and currently standing in the airport waiting for our loved ones to return home at last.

And at eight o'clock sharp, they did.

**This is the last official chapter for Stranded, because all that is left is the epilogue. I hope you all enjoyed, and I can't believe that this is almost over… wow. Remember to review or PM the word ****_Waffles _****to get a sneak peek to the trilogy, Hecate's Daughter. Happy Holidays,**

**~GoGreen43**


	21. Epilouge

**I have tears in my eyes right now… this is over… some of you probably didn't think I would ever finish this, huh? Well I did! Ha! IN YOUR FACE!**

**~GoGreen43**

**Stranded**

**Epilogue**

**(Three Months Later- New Year's Eve)**

**-Annabeth POV-**

Over the past three months I have been driven crazy by the media, my coworkers, and some people I had thought were my friends.

After the six of us survivors from the plane crash told our story we have been shrouded by news reporters trying to get the scoop that doesn't exist, constantly told how courageous we are, and looked at like we're some sort of group of superheroes.

It's as if everyone thinks that we're all fearless, and because we were stranded on an island for a month we have become these individuals that you should look up to. Everybody wants to be like the six of us. They want to be heroes.

_But they don't know the extent of what the island has done to us._

Mark Twain once said, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." Whenever someone tells me how courageous I was and how fearless I had to be to survive, I think of that quote. The fear is still there. I have reoccurring nightmares from the island, so bad that I wake up screaming.

That's one of the reasons why Percy and I moved in together.

That's also one of the reasons why I can't seem to get enough sleep.

A year can change a person, whether or not you want to be changed in the first place. Sometimes I'm sitting in my office and I think that I'm back on the island... I'm lucky I have Piper and Malcolm to keep me sane.

The sad thing is, Percy was the worst out of all of us. Some nights I wake up to his screams, and when I do, I can never seem to wake him up. It's almost as if he's in some sort of deep sleep, and he can't wake up until the right time.

That's another reason why we moved in together. I don't think I could handle him hurting himself if when he thrashes around. He never really talks about his nightmares, but I know he's reliving me jumping off the cliff.

_I know it._

Even though our lives sound completely shitty, it's actually the opposite. Besides the lack of sleep, nightmares, the media, and occasional flashbacks, our lives are pretty amazing.

Percy and I live with each other, and occasionally Thalia will stay over if Jason and Piper need some alone time (wink-wink). I moved into his penthouse, which is pretty freaking big, in Long Island. The six of us, plus Jason, Piper, Katie, Travis, and occasionally Beckendorf and Selina all get along and often have group gatherings.

Usually Percy and Beckendorf are in the lab all day and all night, so when one is off, the other is working. Now because Percy and I are dating, he doesn't work for thirty six hours straight anymore… sometimes twenty four, but I'm guilty as well.

_But hey, we're getting better._

"Uh, Annabeth? You okay?"

I looked up, slightly startled to be shaken out of my reverie. I saw Piper, standing there in all her glory. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and she had a frown on her face. A frown doesn't suit her very well…

"Annabeth?"

"Sorry, just lost in thought. Need something?"

She let out a long sigh, and sat on one of the chairs in front of my desk. "Were you on the island again?"

I scowled at her, ignoring her question. _Why is she always so nosy? She's making me sound like I should be in a mental asylum! _

"Annabeth!"

"No, I wasn't on the island, Piper! God, why are you so freaking nosy all the time?"

"You know I just want to help you, Annabeth."

"By making me feel like I'm in a mental asylum?"

Piper's hazel eyes gleamed with mischief, something that told me she's been spending way too much time with Percy. "You brought up the mental asylum thing, not me!"

"But you're talking to me like a doctor would talk to their mentally insane patients!"

"And you're the one working on New Years Eve! Not to mention you and Percy are hosting everyone at your penthouse! You're just making your evening a whole lot more stressful than it has to be."

"You're at the office too!"

"I'm only picking up some papers. I know I'm taking a sick day tomorrow, so I'm just being prepared."

I gave her an awkward smile, causing her to laugh out loud. "I guess I taught you well, Pipes."

"Only you, Annabeth. Only you. I'm just glad that you're back to your old self… dealing with a mental Annabeth is the worst!"

My eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, _mental_?"

Her cheeks flushed under my hard stare, and she held her hands up in defense. "Hey now, I wasn't the one who brought it up."

"But you wish you did."

"You know me so well."

I smiled, leaning back into my chair. I took everything in, every single detail, and permanently stashed it in my brain. I never want to forget this feeling. I'm finally at ease with myself. I mean, you never know when you're going to get stuck on an island.

"It feels good to be back."

Piper wore a soft, sad smile. "You know you were only gone for a month? And that you have been back for three times that long?"

I gave her a knowing look. "I've been back physically, Piper, but not mentally. And now I guess it finally feels like I'm all here. For three months I've left a part of myself behind on that island… and now I feel like I got that part of me back."

"Did you talk to Percy or Thalia about this?"

I sighed. "It's a lot easier to tell this to someone who wasn't there. Percy would get all Aristotle on me and try to do too much to help me. Thalia is the same way. They're healing too, Piper. I can't forget that."

"True, but you're healing too."

I leaned forward on the chair, putting my head in my hands. "You don't get it, Piper. No one gets it. The reason that they're having these nightmares... the reason that they're constantly calling and texting me in the middle of the night to make sure I'm alive is my fault."

"You can't blame yourself for doing a noble thing. Annabeth, you jumped to save Percy. You were clawed by that creature when you were trying to help the others… it's not your fault."

"Then why do I think it is? Why can't I get that out of my head?"

"I don't know."

I sighed, and started to gather my papers on the desk. "I need to get going… you know, get ready for that party tonight."

"Annabeth, you should really tell someone what-"

"I'll see you tonight, Piper."

I got up from my seat, and with the last bit of dignity I had, I walked out of the office with my head held high. I was only able to keep the tears from falling until I got to my car.

Tears streamed down my face and kept me from having a clear point of view, in more ways than one, so I decided to wait in the car until I calmed down. I have had mental breakdowns from time to time, but I've just been lucky that each time I was able to hold it in until I was alone.

_Sometimes the blame that I place on myself can become too much._

Once I finally was able to calm myself down and get a hold over my emotions, I put my Ford Excursion into drive and drove out of the ramp, heading straight towards the penthouse that I shared with Percy.

There was a private parking sector that Percy had bought out so that we can park there as much as we please. Apparently, not only does his job pay well, but he's a trust fund baby, like me. His father, like my mother, was very rich and everything that his father owned went to him when he died.

When I walked into the penthouse I was met with this empty feeling. No one was home besides me, and it just felt very cold and very lonely.

My hand itched toward my cell phone to call Percy and demand that he come home so that he could cure this loneliness. But unfortunately for me, I knew that he was knee deep in a submarine project and he would be arriving to the party late.

Let alone come home and cure this emptiness of a penthouse.

Walking to the kitchen to start cooking for later, I checked my watch. I had three hours to get ready before people started to show.

I had to get moving.

I started to make a mental list of everything that had to be done. Thalia and Piper were going to make desert to bring over, Juniper was making a fruit salad and a normal salad, while Katie was bringing the booze, and Selina was bringing the New Year's Eve party stuff.

All I had to do was clean and make the pasta dishes. _Easy enough. _

Before I even started to do anything, I heard someone open the door. Knowing Percy shouldn't be coming home this early and that my friends would have called before coming early I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I grabbed the frying pan from the stove next to me and I crept into the hallway to hopefully sneak up on the intruder.

When I saw a familiar mop of raven black hair I let out I breath I didn't know I was holding. "God, Seaweed Brain! You scared the shit out of me!"

I heard him chuckle and place his keys on the mantle. "Sorry, Wise Girl." He walked over so he could see me and his eyes widened a bit. I probably looked like a flustered crazy person with wild eyes, hair all over the place, and a frying pan in hand. I quickly put the pan behind my back with a sheepish smile.

"A frying pan? Really? What were you going to do? Fry me to death?"

I glared at him and took the pan out from behind my back, looking at it with a small smile. "There is a lot of things I can do with this to kill a person, let alone knock them out."

He laughed a bit before he caught a glimpse at my full face. The laughter died down and his eyes widened even more. "Oh… you weren't kidding."

I gave him a sweet smile. "Of course not."

"Remind me to never mess with you."

I laughed and sat the pan down on a ledge before walking up and giving him a hug and kiss. "Noted. So now you should tell me why you're home so early."

"What, you're not happy that I'm home early?"

I let out a frustrated sigh. "You know that's not what I meant, Seaweed Brain. I'm just saying that you usually don't come home this early and I'm wondering why. That's all."

"Is coming home to see my beautiful girlfriend not enough?"

I turned my glare up a notch.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Piper called me after you left the office. She told me what happened. I was a little worried, so I came home early to talk about this. Why didn't you come to me when you first felt this way?"

I took a deep breath before looking into his eyes. In the sea green I could detect a lot of swirling emotions. Worry was the most prominent

"What did Piper tell you, exactly?"

He gave me a look but responded anyway. "She told me everything, I guess. That you were off in your head for quite a while and that it took some time for her to reach you. She also told me that you blamed yourself for the nightmares the rest of us have, and that you're putting it on yourself."

I turned away from him and walked into the living room to sit on the couch. He needed to hear my words.

"Percy, if I hadn't gotten myself into trouble back on the island, no one would have thought that I was dead. You guys wouldn't be having these dreams that I didn't come back, or maybe they have to watch someone else they cared about be put into my position. Can't you see that it's my fault?"

"Annabeth I don't know how many times I am going to have to tell you this, and quite frankly I don't care. It was _not _your fault. If it was your fault, it would be my fault as well. Grover has reoccurring nightmares about him not being able to find me in the middle of the ocean."

"But that's not your fault, Seaweed Brain. It's not your fault that the raft drifted!"

He nodded. "Yeah. It's a lot like how it wasn't your fault that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or how you were put in an impossible position to save yourself and possibly kill everyone on the island or put yourself at risk to save everyone. Sure, if you didn't do what you did we wouldn't have these nightmares. We wouldn't be alive to have them!"

Tears streamed down my face and I could see Percy tearing up as well. He just gathered me up in his arms as I sobbed into his shirt, trying to come to terms with what he had just told me.

"I really hate it when you're more logical than I am," I choked out, pulling away from his warm embrace. "If that's how you usually feel around me, I don't know how you do it."

He just laughed, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears coming from my eyes. I reached up to do the same thing for him. "That's why you're my Wise Girl."

My fingers found their way to his hair and I pulled him in for a deep kiss.

Let's just say we had an hour before people started to show when we started to get everything ready.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Once people started to show up, I put the pasta in the oven and Percy turned on the TV to some college football bowl game that was going on.

Katie and Travis came first, which really wasn't a surprise. The person who brings the booze is generally the first person to walk in the door, and the first person to crack it open. Percy and Travis went to the living room to watch football while Katie and I sat in the kitchen.

"How are you holding up? Piper texted me as a heads up earlier today."

I glared at the glass of wine in my hand. "God, how many people did she text?"

"Is that why Percy is here besides the lab?"

"You know us too well."

She gave me a wink before taking a sip of her wine. "It's my job."

"Your job as an analyst?"

"No, my job as a friend."

After talking with Katie for a bit, people started to show up. Piper and Jason, Thalia and Nico, Juniper and Grover, then Beckendorf and Selina. I had a feeling that Beckendorf had stayed later at the lab to cover for Percy. I could never thank that guy enough for what he's done for us.

Once everyone had arrived, ate, and made themselves at home, we were all crowded in the living room with the New Year's Eve show in Times Square playing on the TV. Everyone either had one of Thalia's killer brownies or booze in hand and we were chatting up a storm.

Somehow we started to talk about the island. Of course in our official report about the island, we all had to leave out the bit that there was a Hydra there with us. If we told anyone about that we would all be shipped straight to Loony Ville.

"How did you guys figure out that there was a creature on the island with you?" Jason asked.

Percy took this question. "Well, when I went out to scout the island I found a bunch of claw marks on a tree that was so high up it didn't seem to belong to anything I knew."

Juniper added, "And when he told me that I didn't believe him until I saw the marks for myself. In all my years of studying trees and wildlife I had never seen anything like that."

I could tell that this piqued Katie's interest. "How did you know that when Annabeth got clawed that this was the same thing?" I felt Percy stiffen behind me.

"The similarities from the wound to the marks on the tree were astounding. Only, the marks on the tree had to be forty to fifty feet in the air," Juniper explained.

"How big was that thing?" Jason asked, his voice in awe. "It must've been enormous."

I nodded. "It was very tall and very wide. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."

The conversations went on like that for a while, and I started to notice something. It seemed to be that everyone was avoiding the fact that I jumped off the cliff to kill the Hydra. The people who were on the island with me, especially.

It was only after Beckendorf asked Percy about the water levels on the island that I spoke. "It did happen, you know."

The room went quiet, and the only thing that could be heard was someone singing a song on the TV. "It happened. I jumped off the cliff… I nearly died. We can't just keep putting that off."

The silence overtook the room once again before a gruff voice from across the room spoke, "You're right. It haunts all of us… we can't run from our fears. Not anymore." To my surprise it was Nico Di'Angelo in all his glory that spoke up.

He gave me a wink that I had seen only once before. After he saved my life. I couldn't hold the smile that was dying to break out.

Then, people started talking.

And we all listened.

Nico talked about how he didn't think he was able to lose someone that was like a sister.

Thalia talked about how she didn't know what she was going to do without me, someone she had really come to relate to.

Grover talked about how he felt that he let me down.

Juniper talked about how she never felt so much loss before, and how much it hurt to see Percy in his state.

Percy talked about how gut-wrenching and horrible it felt to see me jump for him. He opened up like he has never opened up before, and I'm so proud of him.

I talked about the guilt I feel because they all feel that way.

When the clock struck midnight, I didn't feel like Cinderella. I wasn't running away from my dreams and from what could have been anymore. And I wasn't the only one.

The island that we were stranded on for a month changed us. It brought out the good, the bad, and the ugly in each and every one of us.

And that evil that we felt… that ugliness that we witnessed had stayed with us even after we left the island. Because we refused to face our fears for so long. Because we didn't want to go back to the island, because we didn't want to face it, it never really left.

But when that clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve and my boyfriend pulled me in for a kiss, I never felt so alive. I could finally feel everything without the guilt on my shoulders and the demons of my past clawing at my mind...

I was finally free.

_-The End-_

**I'm a little misty-eyed right now. I can't believe this is happening… Stranded is completed, and done with. I hope you all very much enjoyed this story, and I wish you all a happy new year's. But before I go, I have to fill you in:**

**Taken will continued to be updated on now that this story is over.**

**Hecate's Daughter will be starting up after Taken, and little sneak peeks will be given out throughout the rest of the story.**

**Remember to Review or PM the word Waffles to get an extra preview of the trilogy, Hecate's daughter!**

**~GoGreen43**


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